UN Security Council approves ‘Gang Suppression Force’ for Haiti

The United Nations Security Council has voted to expand an international security force deployed to Haiti and transform it into a so-called “Gang Suppression Force”.

The resolution passed by the council on Tuesday provides a clear mandate for the force to work with local authorities to “neutralize, isolate, and deter” gangs, secure infrastructure, and seek to secure institutional stability.

“The result today allows us to have the necessary reconfiguration on the ground in order to face the gangs and, therefore, address the insecurity situation in the country,” Panama’s Representative to the UN Eloy Alfaro De Alba said following the vote.

“Today, we say to Haiti that, once and for all, you are not alone,” Alfaro De Alba said.

Panama and the United States first introduced the latest resolution in August. 

It passed on Tuesday with 12 votes in favor and none against. 

Permanent Security Council members China and Russia, along with rotating member Pakistan, abstained from the vote.

It would raise the personnel ceiling from 2,500 in the current mission, first approved in 2023, to 5,550 personnel.