A new multinational force meant to fight gangs in Haiti will begin deploying in phases over the coming months, the United Nations said Thursday, with the first 400 Chadian soldiers already in Port-au-Prince. The force is meant to gradually replace the earlier Multinational Mission to Support the Haitian Police.
Jack Christofides told the UN Security Council that the Gang Suppression Force is at a critical early phase of establishing and that deployments will take place in phases over the coming months. He said force generation is progressing, with impressive pledges from member states, and that maritime and border dimensions will be particularly important, including support for Haiti's capacity to manage its ports and commercial entry points.
The Council approved the new mission at US urging last September and authorized a ceiling of 5,500 troops and police officers. Chad has pledged a total of 1,500 personnel, far more than the 400 already on the ground, while the previous mission peaked at about 1,000 officers, mostly from Kenya. The scale of the new force is meant to answer a security crisis that has outgrown the earlier effort.
That crisis has deepened for years as gangs have carried out killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings, and the UN says groups controlling nearly all of Port-au-Prince have extended their influence beyond the city over the past year. Haiti has not held elections since 2016, and the absence of a functioning electoral process remains one of the clearest signs that the state has not regained control.
Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, who took office after power transferred in February from the Transitional Presidential Council, said the urgency is absolute and that the deployment of the gang repression force must take place without delay. On the same day, Carlos Ruiz Massieu said elections remain the only legitimate path back to constitutional order in Haiti. The force now has an approved deployment plan, but its success will depend on whether pledged personnel arrive in time to change the balance on the ground.
That is the central test in Haiti now: whether a mission built to be larger, broader and more durable can move fast enough to matter before gangs shape the next political opening. For readers watching what comes next, the answer will not be measured in statements but in how quickly the planes, ships and patrols actually follow the promises.