US drops push for Haiti peacekeeping plan to appease China, Russia

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United States has dropped a push for the U.N. Security Council to ask for a plan to transform a security mission in Haiti – helping fight armed gangs – into a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation, a move made to appease Russia and China, diplomats say.

The 15-member council will vote on Monday on a draft resolution to extend the mandate for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission until Oct. 2, 2025. The U.N. first approved the mission a year ago after the Caribbean country asked for assistance.

The Kenyan-led international security mission, while authorized by the U.N. Security Council, is not a United Nations operation. Countries voluntarily provide money and personnel.

The mission has made little progress toward helping Haiti restore order with only 400 Kenyan police officers on the ground so far and a shortfall in funding.

Diplomats say Russia and China do not want the council to ask for a transition plan, so the U.S. removed that language from the draft resolution, seen by Reuters.

Russia wants to allow more time for the MSS to establish itself, Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said, adding: “We don’t want to prejudge MSS’s outcome. Too early to make conclusions.”

The U.S. commitment to restoring safety, peace and security for the Haitian people “remains ironclad,” a spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the U.N. said on Sunday.

“Transitioning the mission into a U.N. peacekeeping operation will further enhance stability by providing more reliable funding and expanding its capabilities,” said the spokesperson.

If the Security Council had asked for a transition plan, it would then have had to – at some point – adopt a second resolution when it was ready to establish a formal peacekeeping operation in Haiti.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this month that establishing a U.N. peacekeeping force would not be the best solution for Haiti, which faces a humanitarian crisis with mass displacements, sexual violence and widespread hunger.

Gang violence has displaced more than 700,000 people in Haiti, according to U.N. estimates.

The head of Haiti’s transition council, Edgard Leblanc, supported transitioning the MSS to a peacekeeping mission on Thursday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue during a visit to Haiti earlier this month.

“I am convinced that this change of status, whilst recognizing that the errors of the past cannot be repeated, would guarantee the full success of the mission in Haiti,” Leblanc told the U.N. General Assembly.

Many Haitians are wary of an armed U.N. presence after previous missions left behind a devastating cholera epidemic and sex abuse scandals.