“This is the face of Haiti today: a country at war, a modern-day Guernica, a human tragedy.” From the podium of the UN General Assembly, Haiti’s transitional leader delivered a stark plea to the international community.
At the heart of his speech was the urgency of breaking free from spiralling violence, alongside a call to close what he described as two centuries of historical injustice.
Laurent Saint-Cyr painted a bleak picture: murders, gang rapes, famine and more than a million people displaced.
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“It is a war between criminals who want to impose violence as the social order and an unarmed population struggling to preserve human dignity,” he said.
Armed gangs now control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and continue to spread terror nationwide.
Support mission stretched thin
For the past 15 months, a Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) – authorized by the Security Council but reliant on voluntary contributions – has tried to restore stability.
Of the 2,500 police officers initially pledged, fewer than 1,000 have been deployed. While the force secured Haiti’s main airport and reopened some roads, it has not halted Port-au-Prince’s slide into near anarchy.
“Their bravery was not enough to contain the crisis,” Mr. Saint-Cyr told the UN General Assembly.
Push for a new ‘suppression force’
With the MSS mandate due to expire in early October, Haiti – backed by the United States and Panama – is urging the creation of a 5,500-strong Gang Suppression Force.
Washington wants the new mission mandated under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, allowing the use of force against threats to peace.
The proposal includes a new UN Support Office in Haiti and a clear mandate: to neutralise gangs, secure key infrastructure and restore minimum institutional stability.
“Haiti wants peace. Haiti is waiting for peace. Haiti has the right to peace,” Mr. Saint-Cyr declared, warning against a security vacuum if the current mission ends. A vote is reportedly expected in the coming days.
Political transition unfinished
Security alone, however, will not resolve Haiti’s turmoil. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, the country has been without an elected government. Successive interim administrations have failed to re-establish order.
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The transitional council, formed in 2024 after a compromise brokered by the Caribbean Community of nations (CARICOM), is tasked with organising elections.
Saint-Cyr said that more than 85 per cent of polling stations have been identified and $65 million secured. “The Haitian people must be able to choose their leaders,” he said, calling free and credible elections essential to ending the provisional state.
The ‘ransom’ of independence
The Haitian leader also pressed for reparations from France, recalling the 1825 ordinance that forced Haiti to pay 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognition of independence – a “ransom” that drained its economy until 1947, he told delegates.
“Our voice is raised to demand reparations, not in a spirit of revenge, but with a concern for justice and truth,” he said. France’s National Assembly acknowledged the injustice in June, and Haiti has since set up a National Committee for Reparations and Restitution.
“France now has the opportunity to write a new page in its history with Haiti,” Mr. Saint-Cyr insisted, echoing wider UN debates on colonial reparations.
Beyond historical reflections, the Haitian leader said urgent was needed to curb gang power. “Every day that passes, benefits the gangs that are suffocating Haiti,” he warned. “If the Security Council does not act quickly, the country risks sinking further into chaos.”
