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UN Security Council extends Haiti mission by 6 months / Photo: © AFP/File
UN Security Council extends Haiti mission by 6 months
The United Nations Security Council voted on Tuesday to extend by six months the work of the gang suppression force deployed to combat violent criminal syndicates ravaging Haiti.
Announced by the UN Security Council last year, the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) had been expected to ramp up between April and October to 5,500 personnel and 50 civilian staff, although it is short of that goal.
Haiti has been wracked by deadly gang violence in recent years, with swaths of the Caribbean country controlled by heavily armed criminal syndicates which local authorities have been powerless to subdue.
The vote, which had 13 votes in favor and three abstentions, will see the force's deployment extended to March 31, 2027.
"The entire effort... is designed around the ultimate objective that Haitians themselves take back control of their own security and their own future, and this cannot and will not become an endless mission," said US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz. The US co-sponsored the resolution.
Russia, China and Pakistan abstained.
Haiti is preparing to hold its first presidential and legislative election since 2016, and a referendum on the constitution, on December 13.
The resolution adopted Tuesday emphasized "the importance of ensuring security conditions conducive to holding free and fair elections."
The GSF replaced the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, which was seen as under-equipped and underfunded.
It was intended to be more robust, but as of July comprised fewer than 1,000 personnel, from Chad, Mongolia, Jamaica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Sri Lanka.
Gangs have been using ever more sophisticated tactics and weaponry to target Haitian authorities, and have extensively used children.
Tuesday's resolution noted "with grave concern the significant proportion of gang members who are children, as a result of systematic recruitment efforts, including coercive and forced tactics, which deliberately target the most vulnerable communities."
Waltz added, "the Haitian people, they defeated Napoleon, some of the greatest militaries in the world. They have fought natural disasters, they have recovered from earthquakes and hurricanes. Together with them, we can take back the second-oldest republic in our hemisphere."
P.Adams--SFF
