United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti - Status

Status

Although the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been in Haiti since 2004, as of 2007, it continued to struggle for control over the armed gangs. It maintains an armed checkpoint at the entrance to the shanty town of Cité Soleil and the road is blocked with armed vehicles. In January 2006, two Jordanian peacekeepers were killed in Cité Soleil. In October 2006 a heavily armed group of the Haitian National Police were able to enter Cité Soleil for the first time in three years and were able to remain one hour as armored UN troops patrolled the area. Since this is where the armed gangs take their kidnap victims, the police's ability to penetrate the area even for such a short time was seen as a sign of progress. The situation of continuing violence is similar in Port-au-Prince. Ex-soldiers, supporters of the ex-president, occupied the home of ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide against the wishes of the Haitian government. Before Christmas 2006 the UN force announced that it would take a tougher stance against gang members in Port-au-Prince, but since then the atmosphere there has not improved and the armed roadblocks and barbed wire barricades have not been moved. After four people were killed and another six injured in a UN operation exchange of fire with criminals in Cité Soleil in late January 2007, the United States announced that it would contribute $20 million to create jobs in Cité Soleil.

In early February 2007, 700 UN troops flooded Cité Soleil resulting in a major gun battle. Although the troops make regular forcible entries into the area, a spokesperson said this one was the largest attempted so far by the UN troops. On 28 July 2007, Edmond Mulet, the UN Special Representative in Haiti and MINUSTAH Mission Chief, warned of a sharp increase in lynchings and other mob attacks in Haiti. He said MINUSTAH, which now has 9,000 troops there, will launch a campaign to remind people lynchings are a crime.

On 2 August 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon arrived in Haiti to assess the role of the UN forces, announcing that he would visit Cité Soleil during his visit. He said that it was Haiti's largest slum and as such was the most important target for U.N. peace keepers in gaining control over the armed gangs. During his visit he announced an extension of the mandate of the UN forces in Haiti. It took MINUSTAH three months and 800 arrests to deal with the gangs and lessen the number of kidnappings on the streets.

President René Préval has expressed ambivalent feelings about the UN security presence, stating “if the Haitian people were asked if they wanted the UN forces to leave they would say yes.” Survivors frequently blame the UN peace keepers for deaths of relatives.

In April 2008, Haiti was facing a severe food crisis as well as governmental destabilization to Parliament's failure to ratify the president's choice of a prime minister. There were severe riots and the UN force fired rubber bullets in Port-au-Prince and the riot calmed. The head of MINUSTAH has called for a new government to be chosen as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the UN provided emergency food. Haiti was hit by four consecutive hurricanes between August and September 2008. These storms crippled coastal regions, requiring humanitarian aid for 800,000.

Critics of MINUSTAH's goal of providing security say that the provision of increased police presence is coming with the unfortunate consequence of neglecting the vast socioeconomic problems in the area, the lack of effort in addressing infrastructure improvement, the joblessness and the pervasive poverty. In 2009, with the appointment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as the UN Special Envoy, there is hope that the international donor community will provide increased aid. MINUSTAH renewed its commitment to Haiti, and $3 billion for projects has been pledged by the international community, much of this for rebuilding after the hurricanes. However, in Cité Soleil, there are signs of a desire for political independence that the international community would rather ignore.

In October 2010, 9 months after the earthquake, the UN extended MINUSTAH's mission. The extension was greeted by unusual anger in Port-au-Prince with demonstrators saying "Down with the occupation" and burning the flag of Brazil, as representative of the largest contingent of MINUSTAH.