As scenes of violence continue in Haiti, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Monday 18 March that European foreign ministers supported the establishment of a mission under the aegis of the United Nations Security Council.
“Haiti is a typical example of a failed state. Completely failed, in the hands of armed gangs of organised crime. There is not a state that can provide a framework for security, that cannot provide security from policy forces, a judiciary. When there is not an organised society, then what happens? What happens is that the gangs are [...] trying to control the country [...] terrorising the civilian population and bringing [...] a complete chaotic [...] situation”, stated Mr Borrell at a press conference on Monday evening.
On Monday, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell compared the situation in Haiti to the film Mad Max, depicting a post-apocalyptic society of violence and chaos.
Around fifteen lifeless bodies were found in an affluent suburb of Port-au-Prince, where gang members had been carrying out attacks since dawn, according to an AFP correspondent.
Faced with a resurgence of violence, the controversial Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, resigned on 11 March, following international talks that led to a transitional governance agreement (see EUROPE 13368/30). Kenya, which was due to deploy a thousand police officers as part of a UN-authorised security mission, has since suspended the dispatch of its men, deeming the Haitian administration’s to have insufficient control at local level.
On Monday, the UN Security Council met in camera to discuss the situation. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)