Haiti

The Dominican Republic partially reopened its border with Haiti on Wednesday to limited commercial activity nearly a month after shuttering the frontier in a continuing spat over construction of a canal targeting water from a shared river.

A Kenyan court on Monday temporarily suspended the government's plan to send police to Haiti on a UN-backed mission that aims to restore calm in the Caribbean nation.

Former Haitian Senator Joseph Joel John pleaded guilty on Tuesday to criminal charges in a U.S. court for his role in the 2021 assassination of the Caribbean country's last president, Jovenel Moise.

In what is being hailed as an historic first, the UN Security Council on Monday authorized the deployment of an international security mission to help Haiti’s national police quell surging gang violence and restore security across the strife-torn Caribbean nation. [S/RES/2699] [UN Meetings Coverage]

The United States on Friday unveiled $65 million more in help for Haiti's police and urged the U.N. Security Council to formally back the deployment of a multinational security mission to help the Caribbean country fight crippling gang violence.

Haiti is in the grip of “extreme brutality”, with gang-related violence continuing to force thousands from their homes amidst widespread suffering, said the UN’s top humanitarian official there. … In the past two weeks alone, 71 people have been killed and injured in capital Port-au-Prince, marking a major escalation, according to UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.

As the prospect of a Haiti mission takes shape, calls are growing to ensure safeguards are in place to protect Haitians from the woes of past foreign interventions, most recently a UN peacekeeping mission marred by sexual abuse claims and links to a deadly cholera outbreak.

Jimmy Cherizier, leader of the powerful G9 Family and Allies gang (FRG9) in Port-au-Prince, told reporters Wednesday he would welcome a multinational police force to help Haiti restore security — under certain circumstances.

A "robust use of force" by a multinational police deployment and use of military assets is needed to restore law and order in Haiti and disarm gangs, U.N. chief Antonio Guterres told the Security Council in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The Bahamian government on Tuesday welcomed Kenya's decision to lead a multinational force in Haiti and committed 150 people to support the effort if the United Nations authorizes the force.