In the latest international effort to bring peace to Haiti, the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday approved a larger gang-fighting force of police officers and soldiers from around the world to try to stop the killings, rapes and kidnappings committed by criminal groups.
The plan, proposed by the United States and Panama, would deploy to Haiti a gang-suppression force of up to 5,500 soldiers and officers with the power to engage in combat against the outlaws who have terrorized the country for years.
But it was unclear what countries were prepared to contribute personnel to the force or help pay for it.
The vote came two days before the expiration of the U.N. mandate for the current security deployment in Haiti, called the Multinational Security Support mission. It is largely composed of Kenyan police officers and is meant to provide a support role for the Haitian police.
That mission, which consists of about 1,000 officers, managed a few victories, like taking back the airport andseaport, but was never fully staffed or funded and failed to quell the spread of violence to areas outside the capital.
The new deployment, which will include the Kenyans, would increase the force’s size fivefold and be allowed to undertake independent offensive operations against gangs, officials said. The Kenyans have been assisting the Haitian police but were limited in terms of conducting their own operations, said Bill O’Neill, the U.N.’s expert on human rights for Haiti.
“This new force would be able to operate independently on its own initiative,” he said in August. “Of course, it would still try to help the police and be there to support, but it wouldn’t be tied to the Haitian National Police and its own operations.”
The approval of the new force comes eight years after the departure of aU.N. peacekeeping operation in Haiti known as MINUSTAH.
From 2004 to 2017, the U.N. had up to 10,000 military personnel in Haiti. The soldiers came under scrutiny for fathering children with sexually exploited women, abusing children and introducing cholera into the country. The disease killed more than 10,000 people.
The mechanics of the new force would differ because the United Nations would manage its operations but would not command it.
The force would not be considered an official U.N. peacekeeping operation. It would be led by a force commander and be overseen by a “standing group of partners” made up of several countries, including the United States, according to the new proposal.
The new force’s mandate will be “more muscular,” said Henry Wooster, the United States’ chargé d’affaires in Haiti. “That allows greater freedom of maneuver, freedom of action,” he said. Its name — the Gang Suppression Force — “should speak volumes,” he said.
Estimates of the number of gang members operating in the country vary from 2,000 to 30,000, Mr. Wooster said.
Haitian officials supported the move.
“This marks a decisive turning point in my country’s fight against one of the most serious challenges in its already turbulent history,” Ericq Pierre, Haiti’s ambassador to the U.N., said after the vote.
“Multiple heavily armed gangs have extended their control over large parts of the territory, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince,’’ he said. “They terrorize the population, attack public institutions, destroy hospitals and clinics, burn down schools and prisons, control major roads, extort businesses and families.”
China and Russia objected to the new force, but abstained rather than veto the Security Council measure.
Russia called it a “dangerous and poorly thought out venture.” China argued that the United States had treated the Council as a “rubber stamp” by failing to answer key questions, including about paying for the new force, its rules of engagement and where the personnel would come from.
The force would depend on voluntary contributions, which was problematic for the Kenyan-led security mission since few countries other than the United States were willing to help with either personnel or money. Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said that lack of “burden sharing” meant the international community had failed to deliver a mission that was fit for the job.
“It lacked the scale, scope and resources needed to take the fight to the gangs and restore a base line of security in Haiti,” Mr. Waltz said.
Eugene Chen, a senior fellow at U.N. University’s Center for Policy Research, said the new force was similar to one now deployed in Somalia, and was a mere “rebranding” of the Multinational Security Support mission that Mr. Waltz criticized.
“That arrangement in Somalia has real issues and limitations, including lack of dedicated and predictable funding and reimbursement to the countries that contribute troops,” Mr. Chen said. “This new force addresses some — but not all — of the operational challenges of the Multinational Security Support mission, but not the strategic ones.”
Haiti has been in the throes of a humanitarian and security crisis since the 2021 assassination of its last elected president, Jovenel Moïse. The crisis deepened in February 2024, when warring gangs joined forces in a united front.
At least 4,000 people were killed since January, the U.N. said. .
David C. Adams contributed reporting.
Frances Robles is a Times reporter covering Latin America and the Caribbean. She has reported on the region for more than 25 years.
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