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Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Senators demand answers from Trump administration on ‘contradictory' Haiti policies
A group of Democratic senators are calling out the Trump administration on what they call its 'increasingly inconsistent' policies toward Haiti, demanding answers on both its stance on immigration and the presence of U.S. private military contractors in the country helping the government go after armed gangs with weaponized drones. A letter signed by nine senators, including Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is addressed to both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The two have until Aug. 15 to answer lawmakers' questions on how the administration can include Haiti on a list of banned countries under a travel ban, yet deem the Caribbean nation safe enough to end Temporary Protected Status for its nationals living in the United States. 'How does the Administration reconcile the security justification for Haiti's inclusion in the travel ban with its simultaneous assessment that Haiti's TPS status should be terminated because it is safe for Haitians to return home?' the senators ask. The letter comes on the heels of a visit by Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé earlier this month to Washington and ahead of a scheduled leadership change on Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council next week. It also comes amid a lack of clarity on the part of the Trump administration on what its policy regarding Haiti will be. Under the previous administration, the United States supported a Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission to help the Haiti National Police take on the gangs. The Trump administration, while thanking the Kenyans for stepping forward, has said it cannot continue to shell out the lion's share of the cost for the mission, which officials now say has cost the United States nearly $1 billion. This has left the mission and Kenya uncertain about what will happen when the United Nations' one-year mandate comes up for renewal in September. Senators mention the Kenya-led mission in their letter, but their main concern is about a private military contractor the Haitian government has hired to help fight gangs. Last month, Fritz Alphonse Jean, the head of Haiti's Transitional Presidential panel acknowledged that the government had signed a contract with foreign contractors. But Jean declined to provide details about the deal with Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide, which senators are now demanding from Rubio. 'These reports raise urgent questions about compliance with U.S. arms export laws, the risk of U.S. complicity in gross violations of human rights, and fundamental contradictions in current U.S. foreign and immigration policy toward Haiti,' the letter, spearheaded by Sens. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Raphael Warnock of Georgia says. They describe Prince's armed operations as the 'unchecked deployment of a U.S. private military contractor with a troubling history.' Prince was brought on earlier this year to assist Haiti with a gang task force operating out of the prime minister's office. The force has been using weaponized drones and is expected to soon beef up operations, raising concerns about non-gang casualties in heavily urban Port-au-Prince. The lack of transparency around the operation doesn't sit well with them, senators say. Public sources, they say, confirm that arms have already been shipped to Haiti for use by the private military contractors, and 'such operations risk undermining the legitimacy and effectiveness of the U.N.-sanctioned and U.S.-supported Multinational Security Support mission, which is intended to stabilize Haiti through a transparent, accountable multilateral framework.' Blackwater was implicated in a 2007 massacre of civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad, Iraq, where 17 Iraqi civilians, including children, were killed while scores of others were wounded. The incident became a symbol of the dangers posed by mercenaries. Though Blackwater is no longer in existence, neither Prince nor Haitian authorities have publicly provided the name of the company his reported 150 security contractors are operating under in the country. The subject has become thorny for many reasons. To begin, Haiti is under a U.S. arms embargo, which means that U.S. nationals are prohibited from exporting defense items or providing military services to foreign entities without prior authorization from the State Department of State, which until recently had been reluctant about greenlighting military contractors in Haiti. 'In this case, weaponized drone operations, arms shipments, and deployments of U.S. mercenaries unquestionably constitute activities requiring export licenses,' the letter states. There have been questions not just about the private military private contractors' presence in respect to U.S. laws, but also in respect to a global arms embargo the U.N. Security Council has also imposed on Haiti in hopes of controlling weapons flows into the country. U.N. experts have said that the existence of the contractors are a gray area and the global entity has been cautious about publicly criticizing them due to the building frustrations among Haitians with gangs that have already killed more than 4,000 people this year and now control up to 90% of the capital. 'What accounts for the contradiction between State's support for armed stabilization operations in Haiti and DHS's determination that TPS protections should end?' the letter asks. Senators also want to know whether expert licenses have been given to any private military contractors in Haiti, and whether the police units involved in the drone operations been vetted. 'The Haitian national police, which reportedly receives U.S. assistance, has a well-documented record of human rights violations and abuses, including credible allegations of extrajudicial killings,' the letter said. If police units units are operating in coordination with private military contractor, 'that may expose U.S. security assistance' to violations put in place by Congress, the lawmakers note. The senators also raise concerns about what they are calling the contradictory and inconsistent U.S. policy in regards to immigration. According to recent U.N. briefings, more than 1.3 million people have been displaced from their homes in Haiti; more than half are children. Nearly half the population faces crisis-level hunger, and 42% of health facilities in Port-au-Prince are not functional, the letter emphasizes. Given this reality, the lawmakers say they need clarification on the decision to terminate immigration protections for Haitians who are temporarily in the U.S. and Haiti's inclusion in a sweeping travel ban targeting countries deemed security threats. 'These two actions are contradictory: The Administration claims Haiti is safe enough to deport Haitians back to, but, at the same time, is so dangerous to block Haitians from seeking refuge in the U.S. It cannot be both,' the lawmakers wrote.
Miami Herald
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
U.N. extends political mission in Haiti, but it will be for less than a year
The United Nations Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of its political mission in Haiti, agreeing that the office remains critical in supporting progress on the security and political front in the crisis-wracked country. But unlike in the past when the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti has received 12-month extensions, Monday's unanimous decision by council members backed only six-and-a-half months. The resolution extending the mission's new mandate until Jan. 31, 2026, was written by the United States and Panama. The resolution's language reaffirms support for sanctions against those fueling the country's gang crisis, while reaffirming U.N. member nations' commitment to supporting 'Haitian-owned and Haitian-led solution' to dealing with the causes of the crises. Members also expressed their intentions, 'without delay,' to consider recommendations made by Secretary-General António Guterres to help reduce gangs' territorial control. In February, Guterres nixed deploying blue-helmet peacekeepers to Haiti, saying there is no peace to keep, and instead offered to bolster the current Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission with funds from the U.N. peacekeeping budget. Five months after presenting the council with a plan, including establishing a U.N. support office to provide logistical and operational support to the mission and bolstering intelligence capabilities, Guterres has yet to receive guidance from the council, whose members on Monday acknowledged the worsening situation in Haiti. 'The technical extension of this mandate should not make us forget the urgent need for council action to bolster support for security in Haiti,' France's permanent representative, Jérôme Bonnafont, said. The ongoing efforts by the Kenya-led mission, he added, 'must be accompanied by a clear framework' provided by the U.N. 'The U.N. must bring strategic and operational expertise to the fore, as well as crucial logistic support. Almost five months after the Secretary General having issued these recommendations, there is an urgent need to deal with the humanitarian and security situation,' Bonnafont said. The U.N. mission's short mandate reflects several realities facing the global agency and Haiti, where the worsening gang violence is driving hunger and displacements and is also making it increasingly difficult for U.N. staff to operate. Forced to work in a more hostile environment it was first established in 2019, the mission faces limited options for evacuations due to the ongoing suspension of international commercial flights, and mobility, because of gangs' ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince. The mission, which was headed by María Isabel Salvador before she was replaced this month by Carlos G. Ruiz Massieu of Mexico, is down to a skeleton team of 17 staffers who work from home most days. Ahead of a meeting earlier this month, Guterres informed the security council that the U.N. political mission is undergoing a review with the objective of becoming smaller and more focused. The overhaul comes as the U.N. itself, faces a major financial crisis fueled in large part by U.S. foreign aid cuts under President Donald Trump. The United States, the largest donor to the U.N., is in arrears on its payments to peacekeeping. Trump, having already gutted some humanitarian assistance, is proposing that Congress rescind billions in additional U.N. funding. The moves, if they go through, are bound to have a detrimental effect on Haiti, where efforts to provide a robust response to the gang violence continue to lack clarity. Panama's permanent representative to the security council, Eloy Alfaro de Alba, said the agency's continued foot dragging on providing solutions was not only 'an exercise of protracted procrastination,' but 'is like the chronicle of a death foretold written by the much hailed Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. 'We should take action now. The Haitian people cannot and should not wait any longer,' he said, warning that waiting until September when the Kenya force's mandate comes up for renewal 'will be too late.' The ill-equipped and under-resourced mission, though authorized by the Security Council, is not a formal U.N. peacekeeping operation and has had to rely on voluntary funds. Most of that money has came from the United States, which under the Biden administration gave more than $629 million. The Trump administration has said it can't continue the same level of financial support. Monday's meeting took place a day before the mandate of the U.N.'s Haiti office is set to expire on Tuesday, and as Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé visited Washington, where he met with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. The State Department said the two men discussed ongoing efforts to restore security and political stability. 'Landau reiterated that Haiti's security crisis poses a threat to our regional and national security,' the statement said. 'Both officials emphasized the importance of restoring constitutional order and reinforcing the capacity of Haiti's democratic institutions. The Deputy expressed the United States' support for the Multinational Security Support mission, but emphasized the need for greater burden-sharing.' In recent months, Fils-Aimé has turned to foreign contractors and explosive drones to help in the fight against criminal gangs, most notably a company connected to Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater, the private U.S. military contractor. The Trump administration is currently working on a new Haiti policy. However, Dorothy Shea, the U.S.'s acting chargé d'affaires at the U.N., provided no hint as to the direction the administration wants to take. She said the U.S. continues to work closely with those invested in Haiti security and. emphasized the administration's call for other donors to 'step up and contribute' more. 'We remain seized with the security crisis in Haiti, especially the abhorrent gang violence and rampant corruption,' she said.
NBC News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Haiti's gangs have 'near-total control' of the capital as violence escalates, U.N. says
Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and previously were estimated to control 85% of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40% of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' proposal in February to have the U.N. provide drones, fuel, ground and air transport and other non-lethal support to the Kenya-led mission has languished in the council. In response to the gangs, the UNODC's Waly said there has been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defense groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs. "Over the last three months," Jenca said, "these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration." He said the last three months have also seen an increase in sexual violence by gangs with the U.N. political mission in Haiti documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors just from March to April. A new report by U.N. experts covering the period from last October through February said the gangs have exploited political turmoil and the disorganized response to Haiti's security crisis, pointing to competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within Haiti's transitional governing bodies that have stymied action. "While the expansion of territorial control brings gangs additional sources of revenue and bargaining power," the experts said, "these attacks are also backed by individuals trying to destabilize the political transition for their own political goals." One major result is that very little progress has been made toward restoring public security or implementing the roadmap for organizing national elections by February 2026, the experts monitoring an arms embargo on Haiti and sanctions against key gang leaders said in the report to the Security Council. With a weak national police force facing acute tensions in its leadership, an army that needs rebuilding, and the limited ability of the multinational force, the experts warned that the gangs will continue "to have the upper hand unless stronger international support is provided." As for vigilante groups, the experts said, they "often include local police officers, some of whom actively participate in human rights violations." The Haitian National Police have also carried out "a worrying number of extrajudicial killings … with suspected gang members often summarily executed," the experts said, pointing to 281 summary executions by specialized police units in 2024 including 22 women and 8 children. Despite the U.N. arms embargo on Haiti, gangs continue to obtain more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic, the experts said.
Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Haiti's gangs have ‘near-total control' of the capital as violence escalates, UN says
Waly said the state's authority to govern is rapidly shrinking as gang control expands with cascading effects. Criminal groups are stepping into the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public services and are establishing 'parallel governance structures,' and gang control of major trade routes has paralyzed legal commerce, leading to soaring prices for cooking fuel and rice, Haiti's staple food, she said. UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the council, 'the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince' and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond is 'pushing the situation closer to the brink.' Advertisement 'Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario,' he warned. Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, and previously were estimated to control 85 percent of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination. Advertisement A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40 percent of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' proposal in February to have the UN provide drones, fuel, ground and air transport, and other nonlethal support to the Kenya-led mission has languished in the council. In response to the gangs, the UNODC's Waly said there has been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defense groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs. 'Over the last three months,' Jenca said, 'these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration.' He said the last three months have also seen an increase in sexual violence by gangs, with the UN political mission in Haiti documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors just from March to April. A new report by UN experts covering the period from last October through February said the gangs have exploited political turmoil and the disorganized response to Haiti's security crisis, pointing to competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within Haiti's transitional governing bodies that have stymied action. 'While the expansion of territorial control brings gangs additional sources of revenue and bargaining power,' the experts said, 'these attacks are also backed by individuals trying to destabilize the political transition for their own political goals.' One major result is that very little progress has been made toward restoring public security or implementing the roadmap for organizing national elections by February 2026, the experts monitoring an arms embargo on Haiti and sanctions against key gang leaders said in the report to the Security Council. Advertisement With a weak national police force facing acute tensions in its leadership, an army that needs rebuilding, and the limited ability of the multinational force, the experts warned that the gangs will continue 'to have the upper hand unless stronger international support is provided.' As for vigilante groups, the experts said, they 'often include local police officers, some of whom actively participate in human rights violations.' The Haitian National Police have also carried out 'a worrying number of extrajudicial killings … with suspected gang members often summarily executed,' the experts said, pointing to 281 summary executions by specialized police units in 2024, including 22 women and eight children. Despite the UN arms embargo on Haiti, gangs continue to obtain more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic, the experts said.
02-07-2025
- Politics
Haiti's gangs have 'near-total control' of the capital as violence escalates, UN says
UNITED NATIONS -- Haiti's gangs have gained 'near-total control' of the capital and authorities are unable to stop escalating violence across the impoverished Caribbean nation, senior U.N. officials warned Wednesday. An estimated 90% of the capital Port-au-Prince is now under control of criminal groups who are expanding attacks not only into surrounding areas but beyond into previously peaceful areas, Ghada Fathy Waly, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told the U.N. Security Council. 'Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence, has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents,' she said. 'And in the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and customs officials have been reported.' Waly said the state's authority to govern is rapidly shrinking as gang control expands with cascading effects. Criminal groups are stepping into the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public services and are establishing 'parallel governance structures,' and gang control of major trade routes has paralyzed legal commerce, leading to soaring prices for cooking fuel and rice, Haiti's staple food, she said. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the council 'the ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince' and their strengthened foothold in the capital and beyond is 'pushing the situation closer to the brink.' 'Without increased action by the international community, the total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario,' he warned. Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and previously were estimated to control 85% of the capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40% of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' proposal in February to have the U.N. provide drones, fuel, ground and air transport and other non-lethal support to the Kenya-led mission has languished in the council. In response to the gangs, the UNODC's Waly said there has been a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defense groups, with some trying to protect their communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs. 'Over the last three months," Jenca said, "these groups reportedly killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or collaboration.' He said the last three months have also seen an increase in sexual violence by gangs with the U.N. political mission in Haiti documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors just from March to April. A new report by U.N. experts covering the period from last October through February said the gangs have exploited political turmoil and the disorganized response to Haiti's security crisis, pointing to competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within Haiti's transitional governing bodies that have stymied action. 'While the expansion of territorial control brings gangs additional sources of revenue and bargaining power,' the experts said, 'these attacks are also backed by individuals trying to destabilize the political transition for their own political goals.' One major result is that very little progress has been made toward restoring public security or implementing the roadmap for organizing national elections by February 2026, the experts monitoring an arms embargo on Haiti and sanctions against key gang leaders said in the report to the Security Council. With a weak national police force facing acute tensions in its leadership, an army that needs rebuilding, and the limited ability of the multinational force, the experts warned that the gangs will continue 'to have the upper hand unless stronger international support is provided.' As for vigilante groups, the experts said, they 'often include local police officers, some of whom actively participate in human rights violations.' The Haitian National Police have also carried out 'a worrying number of extrajudicial killings … with suspected gang members often summarily executed,' the experts said, pointing to 281 summary executions by specialized police units in 2024 including 22 women and 8 children. Despite the U.N. arms embargo on Haiti, gangs continue to obtain more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic, the experts said.
