The last thing Haiti needs is another failed plan to bring peace to the island country. But it looks like the Trump Administration intends to accelerate a fruitless Biden-era plan hatched by the United Nations Security Council that left the U.S. footing most of the bill for Kenyan mercenaries to fight brutal Haitian gangsters.
The U.N. Security Council has authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the current security mission led by Kenyan police. The U.S., partnering with Panama, wrote the resolution for the new plan, but the fine details, including which countries, if any, will help fund the plan and how it will be staffed, are not yet clear.
Violet gangs control Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, ruling through murders, gang rapes, famine, and the displacement of more than a million people, according to Laurent Saint-Cyr, one of Haiti’s transitional leaders who addressed the United Nations General Assembly last week. Haiti has been without a clear elected leader since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
“It is a war between criminals who want to impose violence as the social order and an unarmed population struggling to preserve human dignity,” Saint-Cyr said, asking the U.N. to help.
The U.N. Security Council previously promised 2,500 Kenyan police officers to lead a Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) against the gangs. But the implementation was delayed and fewer than 1,000 made it to Haiti. In February, the Haitian Times reported a total of 744 had arrived to save a nation of 11.7 million people.
The plan relied on voluntary contributions from other nations and much of the funding never materialized, leaving the U.S. propping up the doomed plan.
“The US … remains the principal provider of financial support to the MSS mission,” the September Security Council Report said of the old plan.
“Since its launch, the MSS has struggled with underfunding. Its initial annual cost was estimated at $600 million — with more than half of that coming from the U.S,” The Haitian Times reported. “While the Biden administration provided $300 million and the Trump administration $40 million, the UN-managed trust fund has raised only $112.5 million, mostly from Canada.”
Understaffed, under-funded, and underperforming; despite the the MSS mission, gangs still rule Haiti and if the U.S. is not careful, it will end up mostly bankrolling the next solution.
New Plan
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution describing a new plan Tuesday, written by the United States and Panama, with 12 votes in favor and three nations, China, Pakistan, and Russia abstaining from the vote.
The plan calls for a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) of 5,550 uniformed military and police personnel who will work under an initial 12-month mandate, coordinating with the Haitian National Police and the Haitian armed forces. Together they will conduct intelligence-led operations to “neutralize, isolate and deter” gangs, protect infrastructure, and support humanitarian access, according to a U.N. statement.
The plan also establishes the UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH).
The State Department could not offer The Federalist any detail about what percentage of the funding or staffing will be shouldered by U.S. taxpayers. Instead it offered a statement that mentions a burden-sharing model. But it appears participation will again be voluntary.
“Moving forward, the GSF, with support from the UNSOH, will transition to an international burden-sharing model with the sufficient resources needed to fight the gangs.,” Sec. of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The message from the Security Council is clear: the era of impunity for those who seek to destabilize Haiti is over. The United States remains committed to working with international stakeholders to support Haiti’s path toward peace, stability, and democratic governance. We call on all nations to join us in this critical effort.”
The “international stakeholders” mostly turned their backs on the last plan and their roles are not defined in the new plan. The “American First” Trump Administration should not continue down this path. Even if there are 5,500 mercenaries willing to go to Haiti, the U.S. should not be administering another plan doomed to fail.
At publishing time, the resolution for the plan had not been published by the United Nations Document system. When it is, it will appear here.
Part of the plan is available below. The plan says The GSF is authorized to “take all necessary measures” to carry out the mission in the resolution. Specifically:
• Conduct, either independently or in cooperation with the [Haitian National Police] and Haitian armed forces, “intelligence-led targeted, counter-gang operations to neutralize, isolate, and deter gangs”;
• Provide, in coordination with the Haitian National Police (HNP) and Haitian armed forces, security for key infrastructure and transit locations such as the airport, ports, schools, orphanages, hospitals, detention centres, and key intersections;
• Support the HNP, the Haitian armed forces and national institutions to “ensure security conditions” conducive to holding elections, and “contribute” to the creation of conditions conducive to activities carried out by other actors, such as humanitarian assistance and efforts to facilitate “safe exit” of people who want to leave gangs, including children;
• Support to the HNP and the Haitian armed forces to “combat illicit trafficking and diversion of arms and related materiel, including to seize and collect, record and dispose of illicit arms, [and] ammunition” and enhance Haiti’s “management and control of its land, maritime and air borders and ports.”