Haiti

The United States said on Wednesday it was calling on Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to expedite a political transition as armed gangs seek his ouster amid a collapse in security and a humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean nation. Henry, Haiti's unelected interim leader, has been in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico since Tuesday, apparently unable or unwilling to return to his strife-torn country after traveling to Kenya to rally security backing.

The UN Secretary-General reiterated his deep concern on Tuesday over the “rapidly deteriorating” security situation in Haiti as violent gangs tighten their grip on the country in the wake of a jailbreak at the weekend which saw nearly 4,000 criminals return to the streets.

The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad have formally notified the United Nations of their intent to contribute personnel to an international force to help Haitian national police fight armed gangs, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

The Republic of Benin has pledged to deploy 2,000 troops to Haiti as part of a multinational peacekeeping forceto help the Caribbean nation's police fight armed gangs. … The announcement also comes on the heels of the United States committing US$200 million in support, marking a significant international effort to restore peace and democracy in Haiti without direct military involvement.

The already dire human rights situation in Haiti has deteriorated even further amid unrelenting and expanding gang violence, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Friday. 

Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry took to the airwaves on Thursday to urge Haitians to unite to "save" the country. Mr Henry gave the national address as violent protests calling for his ouster mounted.

Kenya is going to push ahead with plans to lead a UN-approved security mission to Haiti, despite a court in Nairobi last week blocking the deployment, Kenyan President William Ruto told Reuters on Tuesday.

Last Friday, Kenya’s High Court blocked the deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti, throwing the timeline for the deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti further into doubt months after the mission was authorized by the United Nations (UN) Security Council.  … This further delay in the deployment of the MSS provides an opportunity to reflect on the support required to provide the mission with the greatest chance of success in implementing an extremely difficult mandate. This article looks at the challenges and options.

The United States on Saturday appealed for urgent support for a U.N.-backed law-and-order mission to Haiti, which has been thrown into doubt after a Kenyan court ruled against Nairobi's plan to send its police to the gang-plagued nation.

Supporters of former rebel leader Guy Philippe have launched protests that have paralyzed some cities across Haiti as they demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. …