Haitian Perspectives on the International Response to the Political and Security Crisis

Haiti is in the midst of a security, political, and economic crisis with acute gang violence. While a holistic approach is critical to address the root causes of the conflict and foster its sustainable resolution, the international community’s security-focused solution risks repeating the same mistake as past foreign interventions. To avoid this, Haitian stakeholders — from the government to civil society — should be included in decision-making, leadership, implementation, and oversight processes.

The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 plunged Haiti — a country that was already grappling with long-term instability — into a full-scale crisis. In response to a worsening turmoil that came to be characterized by acute gang violence, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) authorized a U.S.-backed, Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in October 2023 that aimed to ameliorate the crisis in Haiti. This mission has drawn criticism for a range of reasons including its imprecise objectives, perceived marginalization of Haitian opinion from decision-making processes, and unresolved questions about the weak capacity of Haiti’s security forces.

In addition, the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission is composed of personnel from nations like Kenya and Chad, whose security forces have a history of human rights violations. Thus, the mission’s deployment risks exacerbating an already delicate situation and perpetuating a longstanding tendency by the international community to sidestep the underlying political and socioeconomic issues fueling the current crisis in Haiti.

However, it is still possible for the international community to change its approach, by redesigning the MSS Mission and incorporating the perspectives of Haitians into decision-making processes. A new approach should also give greater consideration to the role of Haiti’s security forces and the government of Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was recently selected by Haiti’s interim Transitional Presidential Council. Only through such inclusive and comprehensive efforts can a stable and prosperous future for Haiti be realized.

How Can the Multinational Security Support Mission Be Successful in Haiti?

Louis-Henri Mars, Executive Director at Lakou Lapè, a Haitian civil society organization engaged in conflict transformation and dialogue in the country since 2013.

Criminal groups in Haiti currently control approximately 80 percent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, including access to its exit points. In October 2022, the government of then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested the deployment of an international armed force to assist the Haitian National Police in combating gang violence in Haiti. In response, the UNSC authorized the MSS Mission in Haiti last year to assist the government of Haiti in restoring law and order. 

What would “success” look like for Haiti? Any intervention must be conceived and designed holistically, and place Haitians at the forefront of the mission. A focus on security is necessary but not sufficient to sustainably address the deep-rooted problems at the heart of Haiti’s crisis.

Recommendations to the MSS Mission

• The MSS Mission must have a clear and transparent mandate that is communicated to the Haitian public before it commences. As currently designed, the mission’s opacity and its distance from the Haitian communities it would ostensibly serve are a recipe for failure.
• The Haitian Armed Forces should be deployed alongside the Haitian National Police in neighborhoods where gangs have been eliminated, as the police lacks sufficient manpower to establish a presence, hold territory, and carry out interventions in other areas at the same time.
• The mission’s intervention strategy must include a restorative justice component and a plan to reintegrate former gang members into society.
• There needs to be shared command and control oversight over the MSS Mission.The MSS Mission should create a multinational oversight board made up of Haitian and international security experts who are nominated by the government of Haiti and vetted locally and internationally to ensure their integrity. This would give legitimacy to both the Haitian government and the mission.
  • Despite the perceived high risk of corruption, foreign partners should not discard local actors based on sweeping statements and inaccurate assumptions. As elsewhere, while corruption is a challenge, there are trustworthy professionals who should be lifted up to develop local solutions for Haiti.

Recommendations to the Haitian Government

• The government of Haiti should review the organization and funding of the security forces.
  • The Haitian National Police, from its leadership to its officers, must be properly evaluated and trained to efficiently spearhead any security intervention while preserving their integrity and minimizing possible collateral damage.
  • There should be significant reinforcement of Haiti’s maritime, air, and land borders to stem the trafficking of guns into the country. This would create jobs for presently unemployed youths and send a strong message to the gangs that the era of impunity is over.
  • The government, with the support of the criminal justice system, should name, shame, and prosecute all internal and external suppliers of guns and ammunition to the gangs as well as all others who have lent logistical support to them.
• A non-violent resolution of the ongoing crisis in Haiti is important for Haiti’s future. The Haitian government must have a post-crisis plan for communities that have expelled armed gangs.
  • To that end, the National Commission for Disarmament, Dismantling, and Reintegration must be reformed and strengthened to function effectively.
  • State actors must establish an immediate presence in those neighborhoods, as their absence has allowed gangs to prosper.
  • The government should implement a large, rotating, temporary job creation plan based on public infrastructure projects to hire newly demobilized gang members and other unemployed youth. Lakou Lapè estimates that a large fraction of the youths who join gangs do so because there are few other opportunities available to them.
  • With the support of the private sector and the international community, the government should rehabilitate and fund vocational and professional schools that have been severely impacted by gang violence to ensure that the human resource needs of the economic sector are met.
• Considering the conflict’s impact on the business environment in the country, the government should also cooperate with the private sector — including community-based small businesses — and bilateral and multilateral donors like the World Bank.

The Ineffectiveness of Foreign Interventions in Haiti’s Crisis and the Need for Sustainable Solution

Jeffsky Poincy, Policy Expert and Program Manager at PartnersGlobal

Over the past three decades, Haiti has faced several crises that have led to cycles of insecurity and gang violence. The response of the United States and other members of the international community has followed a predictable pattern of foreign interventions, typically through United Nations peacekeeping missions. Haiti has experienced several of these deployments, none of which has proven able to successfully resolve its security issues. Although these interventions provided temporary relief to the population through displays of force and a street presence, they did little to shore up the security vacuum that armed gangs in Haiti were quick to fill. In addition, they have had serious social and humanitarian repercussions including significant human rights violations and civilian casualties, as seen during MINUSTAH, the UN stabilization mission in Haiti that operated from 2004 to 2017. The planned deployment of the MSS Mission as a solution to Haiti’s current security crisis fits this established pattern of “outsourcing” Haiti’s security to foreign forces rather than working to strengthen the Haitian police force as part of a more sustainable solution to the country’s security challenges.

The proposed Kenya-led MSS Mission illustrates the flaws of this strategy and reflects broader problems with U.S. policy toward Haiti. The mission lacks legitimacy and transparency, did not contain substantial input from Haitian stakeholders, and was approved by the UNSC without clearly defined objectives or a robust legal and accountability framework. This opacity is likely to enable a culture of impunity and increase the probability of human rights violations that plagued previous UN missions in Haiti.

In addition, the MSS appears to be more focused on strengthening the capacity of Kenyan forces than the Haitian National Police. Over the past two years, the international community’s efforts have focused on facilitating the participation of Kenyan and other foreign forces in a security mission to Haiti by providing them with training and equipment while neglecting the Haitian National Police, which is now on the verge of collapse. More than 3,000 officers have recently left the force, and those who remain are employed in deplorable conditions. As a result, armed gangs have grown stronger against a weakened police force. In spite of the difficulties faced by Haiti’s police force, the international community has prioritized creating the necessary conditions to facilitate the MSS Mission rather than addressing the urgent needs of the Haitian National Police.

The historical failure of past international missions also highlights the complexity and transnational nature of Haiti’s security issues and demonstrates the ineffectiveness of solutions that focus solely on the security dimensions of the problem while ignoring the wider ecosystem of gang violence. Strong ties between Haitian political and business elites and gangs, as well as their links to regional criminal networks, are key factors that enable gang proliferation. The flow of guns and ammunition into Haiti from nearby countries like the United States is also a key factor exacerbating the problem of gang violence.

To address Haiti’s security problems in a sustainable way, a strategic shift is needed toward strengthening and modernizing the Haitian National Police. Efforts to address security challenges will be ineffective if they do not address root causes or the ecosystem that fuels gang violence. This includes breaking up links between gangs and the business and political sectors via law enforcement and international sanctions. Haiti’s security challenges are connected to a broader regional problem that requires coordinated efforts to curb the trafficking of arms and ammunition that empowers gangs.