Pakistan seeks immediate UNSC action to counter Haiti gang crisis
In first formal meeting after assuming presidency Pakistan stresses time for 'half measures' in Haiti is over
Pakistan has called for immediate and unified action by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to help restore political stability in Haiti as gang violence escalates in the Caribbean nation.
Addressing the Council’s first formal meeting under Pakistan’s presidency this month, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, said that the time for “half measures” in Haiti is over.
“The gangs’ stranglehold has turned Haiti’s streets into battlegrounds,” he said. “Vigilante killings are on the rise, children are being recruited by armed groups and the breakdown of basic services is forcing hundreds of thousands to live in fear and face acute food shortages.”
Ambassador Asim, presiding over the 15-member Council in his national capacity, said Haiti’s crisis requires both political unity and international resolve, calling for a Haitian-led solution backed by firm global support, according to Radio Pakistan.
He expressed Pakistan’s support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, led by Kenya and other troop-contributing nations, and urged UNSC to ensure the mission is “robust, well-resourced, and effective”.
“Anything less risks collective failure tomorrow,” Ahmad cautioned. “The people of Haiti deserve to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and want. Pakistan stands ready to help forge consensus in the Council to deliver hope and security to Haitians.”
Miroslav Jenca, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Americas, told the Council that state authority in Haiti had eroded sharply since January. He said gangs had virtually paralysed Port-au-Prince, cutting it off with the ongoing suspension of international commercial flights.
