UN vote on foreign police mission to Haiti set for Monday

2/10/2023 11:49

        The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on Monday to approve the deployment of foreign police to Haiti and authorize the use of force to help the Caribbean country fight violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital Port-au-Prince.
        
        Haiti asked nearly a year ago for international help and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the 15-member council last month that a "robust use of force" by a multinational police deployment and the use of military assets was needed to restore law and order in Haiti and disarm gangs.
        
        It was not immediately clear how China and Russia - which are veto powers along with the United States, France and Britain - would vote on the U.S.-drafted resolution. Diplomats said they are wary of authorizing the blanket use of force and want to expand a targeted U.N. arms embargo to include all gangs.
        
        Haitian officials have said the country does not manufacture weapons, and guns used by gangs are believed to be mostly imported from the United States. The U.S. ATF firearms bureau has found that four in five crime guns recovered and traced across the Caribbean originate from the United States.