As Gang Violence, Organized Crime Grip Haiti, Security Council Hears Calls for Security Boost, Aid Increase, Political Progress

Despite several positive political developments in Haiti, a worsening security situation — compounded by organized crime — has resulted in death, displacement and crisis in the country, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, urging international support to make progress on these intertwined fronts.

“I come before you hopeful for the signs of progress in the political front, despite serious setbacks in the security one,” said Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). On the latter, she reported on armed gangs’ targeting of commercial aircraft near the Port-au-Prince international airport, subsequent coordinated gang attacks across the capital — which triggered violent responses from self-defence groups — and mass killings by armed gangs in Wharf Jérémie.

Yet, she also noted additional deployments of personnel to Haiti from Kenya, Guatemala and El Salvador, emphasizing that improved coordination between the Multinational Security Support Mission and national security forces “has led to better planning and execution of anti-gang operations”.  However, enhanced international assistance is critical as challenges faced by the Haitian National Police “remain immense”.  Nevertheless, she said:  “The political landscape in Haiti has seen positive developments since I last briefed this Council.”

These, she noted, include the appointment of a Prime Minister on 11 November, improved collaboration between the Government and the Transitional Presidential Council, the deployment of UN electoral support and continued work on constitutional reform.  However, pointing to a “fragile” transition framework and “alarming” levels of humanitarian crisis in the country, she underscored:  “A sustainable solution requires progress simultaneously on the security and political fronts, backed up by constant international solidarity.”

Also detailing worsening violence in Haiti was Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who emphasized that this is compounded by illegal arms flows, drug trafficking and other illicit markets underpinned by corruption and money-laundering. Despite the reinforcement of the arms embargo, weapons and ammunition continue to flow into Haiti.  However, these illicit flows “can be detected and halted”, she emphasized, pointing to the dismantling of a network that diverted 900,000 rounds of ammunition from Dominican Republic police stockpiles into illegal markets.

Yet, she also stressed that insecurity, instability and economic hardship continue to drive people to flee Haiti, with nationals increasingly smuggled through dangerous sea routes to the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos en route to the United States and Canada. She further noted that, in 2024, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that children account for 30 to 50 per cent of gang members in Haiti.  “Laws against human trafficking need to be implemented more effectively,” she stressed.

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