UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti ends
The 13-year-long mission began in 2004 to stem political violence but was not met well by Haitians. It will be succeeded by the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, which will continue training Haitian police.
Nepalese UN peacekeepers introduced cholera to Haiti in 2010, leading to an outbreak that killed thousands of Haitians.
A UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti that has helped maintain order through 13 years of political turmoil and catastrophe is coming to an end as the last of the blue-helmeted soldiers from around the world leave despite concerns that the police and justice system are still not adequate to ensure security in the country.
The UN lowered its flag at its headquarters in Port-au-Prince during a ceremony on Thursday that was attended by President Jovenel Moise, who thanked the organisation for helping to provide stability. After a gradual winding down, there are now about 100 international soldiers in the country and they will leave within days. The mission will officially end on October 15.
Immediately afterward, the UN will start a new mission made up of about 1,300 international civilian police officers, along with 350 civilians who will help the country reform a deeply troubled justice system. Various agencies and programs of the international body, such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation, will also still be working in the country.
"It will be a much smaller peacekeeping mission," said Sandra Honore, a diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago who has served since July 2013 as the head of the UN mission in Haiti known as MINUSTAH, its French acronym. "The United Nations is not leaving."
The end of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was marked by the lowering of the UN flag on its main military base in the presence of national authorities and diplomats.
An affront to national sovereignty
MINUSTAH began operations in Haiti in 2004, when a violent rebellion swept the country and forced then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of power and into exile. Its goals included restoring security and rebuilding the shattered political institutions. In April, the Security Council deemed the country sufficiently stable and voted to wind down the international military presence, which then consisted of about 4,700 troops.
Many Haitians have viewed the multinational peacekeepers as an affront to national sovereignty. UN troops are believed to have inadvertently introduced the deadly cholera bacteria to the country and have also been accused of causing civilian casualties in fierce battles with gangs in Port-au-Prince and of sexually abusing minors.
But the mission, with additional help from the US and other nations, is also credited with stabilising the country, particularly after the January 2010 earthquake, and building up the national police force.
"The job may not be complete, but they have essentially done much of what they were originally designed to do in terms of preventing any kind of armed takeover of the state, in terms of increasing the safety of civilians," said Mark Schneider, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It takes work to maintain that, and Haiti needs to maintain that."
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.