UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 Gangs in Haiti could overrun the capital, Port-au-Prince, leading to a complete breakdown of government authority without additional international support for the beleaguered national police, the United Nations chief warned.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report released to coincide with a Security Council meeting Wednesday on the deteriorating situation in the Western Hemisphere鈥檚 poorest country that 鈥渢ime is of the essence.鈥
Further delays in providing the police with additional officers for the multinational force trying to curb gang violence or additional assistance 鈥渃arry the risk of a catastrophic collapse of national security institutions,鈥 he said.
鈥淭his could allow the gangs to overrun the entire metropolitan area, resulting in a complete breakdown of state authority and rendering international operations, including those to support communities in need, in the country untenable,鈥 Guterres said.
He told the Security Council: 鈥淲e must urgently do everything in our power to prevent such an outcome.鈥
Kenya is leading the multinational police force, and , bringing its total deployment to more than 600, below the 1,000 officers the country's president pledged. An additional 150 Guatemalans and an advance team of eight Salvadorean troops have also arrived, but the force remains far below its anticipated strength of 2,500 officers.
The power of gangs in Haiti has grown since the 2021 .
More than 5,600 people were , according to the United Nations. The number of killings increased by more than 20% compared with all of 2023, according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.
Maria Isabel Salvador, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, told the Security Council gang violence has forced more than 1 million Haitians to flee their homes, with many crowding into makeshift and unsanitary shelters after gunmen razed their homes.
The humanitarian crisis in Haiti has reached 鈥渁larming levels,鈥 she said, with nearly 2 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity and 6,000 in catastrophic conditions facing starvation.
Haiti鈥檚 leaders have asked for a U.N. peacekeeping force to replace the multinational force, and the permanent council of the Organization of American States, the United States and dozens of other nations have supported the request. The multinational force is funded by a trust fund, which has only $101.1 million in pledges, while a U.N. force would be funded from the U.N. peacekeeping budget.
Guterres is preparing options for the U.N.'s future role in Haiti.
Haiti's Foreign Minister Jean-Victor Harvel Jean Baptiste told the council that a U.N. peacekeeping mission was crucial. Echoing Guterres, he said gang violence, massacres and kidnappings pose 鈥渁n existential threat鈥 to the safety and security of Haitians 鈥 and threaten 鈥渢he very survival of our state.鈥
Guterres said he is 鈥渁ppalled at the brutality and scale of the violence鈥 committed by the gangs, citing reports of sexual violence, including collective rape and recruitment of children.
鈥淪etbacks in the political process have contributed to a climate in which these atrocities have become possible,鈥 he said.
Guterres said the transition roadmap that began after Moise鈥檚 assassination 鈥渉as been worryingly slow.鈥
鈥淪imply put, the goal of restoring democratic institutions by February 2026 is in jeopardy,鈥 the U.N. chief said.
