DR Asks UN to Deploy Multinational Force in Haiti

Dominican ambassador to the UN Security Council, Jose Blanco Conde, requested on Monday the launching of the approved intervention of a multinational security support mission in Haiti.

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Blanco Conde told the Security Council that the implementation of resolution 2699, which authorizes member states to participate in the formation and deployment of a multinational mission to assist the Haitian National Police in restoring security, is still pending.

According to official data, currently, there are some 200 gangs active throughout Haiti, making it difficult for the Haitian National Police to eradicate, without the help of other forces, the criminal activities that plague Haitian nationals.

So far, some 200,000 people have been reported displaced due to the high level of crime.

The tweet reads, "The Dominican ambassador to the UN, José Blanco Conde, asks the UN to "put into practice" the resolution that approves the deployment of a multinational force in Haiti."

Furthermore, the diplomat highlighted Kenya's willingness to lead international support, even though a Kenyan court decided to temporarily suspend the government's plan to send police officers to Haiti. He also acknowledged the other countries that have offered concrete support to this multinational effort.

Although the resolution was approved by the UN Security Council, the dispatch of Kenyan policemen for the peacekeeping mission in Haiti must be approved by the Kenyan parliament.

The decision has lawmaker Anthony Oluoch as an opponent, who told a session of the lower house that the dispatch of the policemen did not comply with the provisions of the national police law, even though Kenyan President William Ruto promised "not to let the people of Haiti down."

The executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Fathi, said that the Haitian National Police is currently in a constant state of emergency and at a disadvantage against armed gangs due to the flow and availability of illegal weapons to which criminals have access. This has led to gangs increasingly taking control of territory, including airports, ports and fuel storage terminals.