Santo Domingo.-President Luis Abinader celebrated yesterday the diplomatic success achieved by the Dominican Republic in the transformation of the multinational mission of support for security in Haiti (MSS) in a “gang suppression force” (GSF), composed of up to 5,500 police and military personnel, assisted by 50 civilians, with an initial mandate of 12 months.
“The Dominican Republic is proud to have contributed to this effort and will continue working to promote peace and stability in the region,” said Abinader, who stressed that the UN Security Council decision represents a decisive step towards the social, political and economic stability of Haiti and the entire region.
The president explained that the new force, approved by means of a resolution promoted by the United States and Panama, will be directed and financed by United Nations experts, with responsibility for logistics and operation, while the participating states will voluntarily contribute personnel costs.
During his speech at the Eighth UN General Assembly, Abinader called on the members of the Security Council to welcome the resolution, which aims to replace the MSS, whose mandate ends this Thursday, by a broader and more effective force before the ineffective of the current mission led by Kenya, which barely reached 970 members of the 2,500 planned.
The president stressed that Dominican diplomacy, since 2021, has played a key role with international allies to seek effective solutions to the serious Haitian crisis.
He also recalled the support of former presidents Leonel Fernández, Hipólito Mejía and Danilo Medina, who signed with him a letter addressed to the 15 members of the Security Council in support of this initiative.
The vote of the resolution was approved with 12 votes in favor, three abstentions, China, Russia and Pakistan, and none against.
China questioned that the MSS had partially failed due to breaches of the United States and the lack of previous studies in the field, while Russia described the initiative as “a dangerous and poorly planned adventure.”
Document
—1— Support
The new mission indicates that it will continue with the support of Keniata police, and other Central American and Caribbean nations.
—2— Budget
For the MSS, 600 million dollars were budgeted and barely reached 115 million.
Resolution text raises doubts
Risks The writing of the resolution, in which Panama also appears as a promoter, is convoluted and contradictory at some points, such as the one that subjects the operations of this force to the National Police of Haiti (PNH), but wielding that it could also act in a “independent” way to neutralize gang members.
In addition, another of the issues that concern the human rights groups is that it is detailed that it will act “according to international law and human rights, as appropriate”, opening the door to situations that may violate the guarantees of a civilian population already ravaged by various humanitarian disasters.
