SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to send a multinational armed force led by Kenya to Haiti to help combat violent gangs, marking the first time in almost 20 years that a force would be deployed to the troubled Caribbean nation.
The resolution drafted by the United States and Ecuador was approved with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from China and the Russian Federation.
The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for one year, with a review after nine months. The non-U.N. mission would be funded by voluntary contributions, with the U.S. pledging up to $200 million.
The vote was held nearly a year after Haiti's prime minister requested the immediate deployment of an armed force, which is expected to quell a surge in gang violence and restore security so Haiti can hold long-delayed elections. Haiti's National Police has struggled in its fight against gangs with only about 10,000 active officers in a country of more than 11 million people.
"More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress," said Jean Victor Généus, Haiti's foreign affairs minister. "It's a glimmer of hope for the people who have been suffering for too long."
A deployment date has not been set, although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said a security mission to Haiti could deploy "in months."
Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Mutua said last week that the force could deploy within two to three months, or possibly early January. He also noted that key officers are being taught French.
Hours after the vote, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry thanked the U.N. Security Council, the U.N.'s secretary general and Kenya and other countries who agreed to join the force, saying, "The bell of liberation sounded. ... We couldn't wait any longer!"
It wasn't immediately clear how big the force would be. Kenya's government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. In addition, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda have pledged to send personnel.
China and Russia abstain from vote, noting concerns
Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian Federation's U.N. ambassador, said he did not have any objections in principle to the resolution, but that sending an armed force to a country even at its request "is an extreme measure that must be thought through."
He said multiple requests for details including the use of force and when it would be withdrawn "went unanswered" and criticized what he said was a rushed decision. "Authorizing another use of force in Haiti ... is short-sighted" without the details sought by the Russian Federation, he said.
China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said he hopes countries leading the mission will hold in-depth consultations with Haitian officials on the deployment and explained his opposition to the resolution.
"Without a legitimate, effective, and responsible government in place, any external support can hardly have any lasting effects," he said, adding that a consensus for a transition is urgently needed as well as a "feasible and credible" timetable. "Regrettably, the resolution just adopted fails to send the strongest signal in that regard."
Généus said he's grateful the resolution was approved because a foreign armed force is essential, but noted that it's "not enough."
"Socioeconomic development must be taken into account to take care of extreme poverty," he said, adding that it is the source of many of Haiti's problems and has created fertile ground for the recruitment of young people by gangs.
About 60% of Haiti's more than 11 million people earn less than $2 a day, with poverty deepening further in recent years as inflation spikes.
The deployment of an armed force is expected to restore peace and security to Haiti so it can hold long-awaited general elections that have been repeatedly promised by Prime Minister Ariel Henry after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Haiti lost its last democratically elected institution in January after the terms of 10 remaining senators expired, leaving not a single lawmaker in the country's House or Senate. Henry has been ruling the country with the backing of the international community.
The president of the U.N. Security Council, Brazil's Sérgio França, noted that without a Haitian political solution based on free, transparent and fair elections, "no ... aid will guarantee lasting success."
International intervention in Haiti has a complicated history. A U.N.-approved stabilization mission to Haiti that started in June 2004 was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people. The mission ended in October 2017.
Abuse and rights worries cloud Kenya's police
The resolution approved Monday warns that mission leaders must takes measures to prevent abuse and sexual exploitation as well as adopt wastewater management and other environmental controls to prevent water-borne diseases, such as cholera.
But concerns remain.
Critics of the Kenyan-led mission have noted that police in the east Africa country have long been accused of using torture, deadly force and other abuses. Top Kenyan officials visited Haiti in August as part of a reconnaissance mission as the U.S. worked on a draft of the resolution.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told reporters that the resolution contains strong accountability and vetting language and that she's confident Kenya will be able to carry out the mission.
"I can assure you the U.S. will engage on these issues very, very aggressively," she said. "We've learned from mistakes of the past."
Monday's vote comes nearly a year after Haiti's prime minister and 18 top government officials requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force as the government struggled to control gangs amid a surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings.
From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent U.N. statistics. More than 200,000 others have lost their homes as rival gangs pillage communities and fight to control more territory.
Among those left homeless is Nicolas Jean-Pierre, 32, who had to flee his house with his partner and two children and now lives in a cramped school serving as a makeshift shelter with others like him. He has sent his family to temporarily live in the southern coastal city of Les Cayes to keep them safe. Jean-Pierre said he would like the foreign armed force to be based in his neighborhood "so I can have a life again."
"The sooner they get here, the better it will be," said Jean-Pierre, who is seeking work after gangs burned down the garage where he used to work as a mechanic.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan thanked Kenya and other nations who have pledged to join the mission, saying it would bring much-needed help to Haiti's population.
"We have taken an important step today, but our work to support the people of Haiti is not done," he said.
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