Gang violence, poverty, earthquakes and a new outbreak of cholera: the problems are piling up in Haiti. The government’s call for international help is growing louder and appears to be finally being answered. The United States and Mexico are working on a proposal to send an international security mission to the country. Agreements on this are expected to be reached within the next week.

International power must, among other things, reduce gang violence and facilitate humanitarian aid. After the assassination of the former president, gang violence has increased, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince.

In the grip of gang violence

Gangs rule much of the city. According to Haitian journalist Evan Sanons, despite everything, people are trying to get on with their everyday lives, but they rarely leave their homes. Parents are afraid to send their children to school for fear of kidnapping and sexual violence.

Gangs block a large fuel dispenser, resulting in a huge gas shortage.

Due to the lack of electricity, many hospitals can no longer function and the economy has practically come to a standstill. There is a lack of food and clean drinking water, which means that diseases such as cholera are spreading quickly.

outside solutions

The UN Security Council last week unanimously imposed sanctions on one of the country’s leading gang leaders, freezing his assets and imposing a travel ban and an arms embargo. The man is known as Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier; He is a former police officer. The Security Council resolution states that the man poses a threat to peace, security and stability in Haiti and is guilty of human rights abuses.

André Nollkaemper, professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam, expects the sanctions to have little effect. “Gangs that finance themselves with crime money and also buy their weapons through these groups get what they want anyway. I see that as a symbolic message from the UN.”

It is not yet known which country will lead the security forces and which countries will participate. The USA and Canada, among others, are in talks about this. Canada is sending a reconnaissance mission to Haiti to determine which operation has community support.

The UN Security Council has yet to approve the proposal, but the security force is explicitly not a UN force. According to the professor, the fact that the most recent UN mission in Haiti is considered a great failure plays a role in this. Blue Helmets, who were in the country from 2004 to 2017, brought cholera into the country. They were also guilty of sexually abusing Haitian women.

“This is seen as the black page in the history of peacekeeping, including by the residents,” said Nollkamper.

Another factor that he doesn’t think makes it a UN mission is that fighting crime in Haiti is not seen as an issue that lends itself to UN intervention. Although crime rates are very high, there is still no civil war.

Although Haitians firmly oppose foreign interference, they recognize their own government’s inability to improve security in the country, Evan Sanons said. “International forces can help the national police bring the gangs under control. They will not go away forever, but international forces can train national police and prepare them for an eventual resurgence of gang violence.”

The hope is that as gang violence is curbed, the government will be given space to address other issues.