Haiti’s Foreign Ministry has called on the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate of an internationally backed security force meant to tamp down the powerful armed groups controlling parts of the country. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Raina Forbin reiterated her view that the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) needed to be fully deployed to her country, with support from the international community. Its mandate, however, is slated to expire on September 30, unless the UNSC acts to extend its mission.
Forbin gestured to a pressing need in her country. This year alone, in the three months from April to June, an estimated 1,408 people were killed in Haiti, with 656 injured. Much of that violence was attributed to gangs.
Haiti is also pushing ahead with long-postponed general elections. Critics, however, fear that the violence could disrupt the elections and weaken public confidence in the outcome. Political instability in Haiti has been heightened since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Armed groups have flourished in the vacuum, assuming control over large swaths of the capital of Port-au-Prince and displacing more than one million people. Authorities have struggled to address either the out-of-control violence or the deeper causes of instability in the country, including poverty and government corruption. The upcoming elections, the first in a decade, are currently scheduled to take place on December 13.
But officials have questioned whether they will take place, given conditions on the ground. OAS Secretary-General Albert Ramdin said that the regional body would deploy an Electoral Observation Mission to help support a credible vote, urging greater assistance for Haiti’s provisional electoral council. He added that about one million identity cards must also be produced and distributed before voting can take place.
Officials within such international forces have also bemoaned a lack of steady support. Before the GSF, Kenya had led a Multinational Security Support (MSS) to support Haitian police, only to withdraw in April, after failing to meet its funding and deployment goals. The UN Security Council voted to create the GSF task force in October 2025 as a replacement for the MSS.
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