The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on Tuesday on whether to expand the UN-backed Multinational Security Mission (MSS) in Haiti into a full-fledged force with both police and military troops.
Currently, the mission comprises about 1,000 officers, mostly from Kenya, deployed to support Haiti’s struggling police in their fight against heavily armed gangs. Approved in 2023, the MSS has delivered mixed results, with violence continuing to displace over a million people.
“Every day, innocent lives are snuffed out by bullets, fire, and fear,” Laurent Saint-Cyr, chair of Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, told the UN General Assembly last week.
“Entire neighborhoods are disappearing… This is the face of Haiti today, a country at war, a human tragedy on America’s doorstep.”
Saint-Cyr has endorsed a joint US-Panama proposal to transform the MSS into a larger, more resilient mission for an initial one-year period. The proposed mandate would allow up to 5,500 uniformed personnel, including both police and military forces, unlike the current police-only deployment
Kenya’s President William Ruto, whose country leads the MSS, said last week that “with the right personnel, adequate resources, appropriate equipment and necessary logistics, Haiti’s security can be restored.”
The plan also calls for establishing a dedicated UN support office to provide financial and logistical backing for the expanded force.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau urged swift approval of the proposal, stressing that the new mandate would empower the mission to “proactively target gangs and restore security to Haiti.”
However, divisions remain within the Council. China and Russia, both veto-wielding members, abstained during the MSS approval vote in 2023 and have voiced skepticism over further security involvement without political progress in Haiti. Their positions on Tuesday’s vote remain uncertain.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been gripped by gang violence for years, with the crisis worsening after gangs forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign in early 2024. The nation, which has not held elections since 2016, is currently led by a Transitional Presidential Council.
