{"id":5807,"date":"2026-04-02T04:36:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/first-troops-from-un-backed-gang-suppression-force-arrive-in-haiti\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:36:28","slug":"first-troops-from-un-backed-gang-suppression-force-arrive-in-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/first-troops-from-un-backed-gang-suppression-force-arrive-in-haiti\/","title":{"rendered":"First troops from UN-backed Gang Suppression Force arrive in Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The force has an initial mandate of 12 months to address widespread gang violence in Haiti ahead of its elections.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The first foreign troops from a new United Nations-backed force have arrived in Haiti in an effort to combat escalating levels of gang violence in the Caribbean country.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) announced on social media that an initial group from the African country of Chad had arrived. They were accompanied by Jack Christofides, a UN official from South Africa who is expected to helm the group\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/7\/haitis-transitional-council-hands-power-to-us-backed-pm\">Haiti\u2019s transitional council hands power to US-backed prime minister<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/10\/hundreds-killed-in-haiti-drone-strikes-including-60-civilians-report\">Over 1,200 killed in Haiti drone strikes, including 60 civilians: Report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/31\/at-least-70-killed-30-wounded-in-haiti-gang-attack-rights-group-says\">At least 70 killed, 30 wounded in Haiti gang attack, rights group says<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cJack Christofides has arrived in Port-au-Prince as Special Representative of the Gang Suppression Force,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GSForceHaiti\/status\/2039414510658691235\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn advance team of Chadian forces also arrived, marking the first troop deployment of the expanded GSF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No further details were provided about the deployment. The Gang Suppression Force is eventually expected to grow to 5,500 people, and it has an initial mandate of 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>It was authorised last September during a meeting of the UN Security Council, which envisioned the force as a replacement for a Kenyan-led <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/9\/30\/un-extends-haiti-security-mission-for-another-year-as-violence-soars\">multinational security mission<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That mission, first deployed in 2023, has failed to bring Haiti\u2019s gang violence under control, with officials citing a lack of funding, manpower and institutional support.<\/p>\n<p>The new Gang Suppression Force was first proposed by the United States and Panama as a tool to \u201cneutralise, isolate, and deter\u201d Haiti\u2019s gangs.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the smaller Kenyan-led mission, whose mandate was to support local police, the Gang Suppression Force will be empowered to make arrests in Haiti.<\/p>\n<p>Twelve members of the UN Security Council <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/30\/un-security-council-approves-gang-suppression-force-for-haiti\">voted in favour<\/a> of its implementation. While no votes were cast against it, China, Russia and Pakistan abstained from the vote.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian representative, Vassily Nebenzia, condemned the proposal at the time as \u201crushed\u201d and \u201cill-conceived\u201d, and he warned it could open the door for abuses.<\/p>\n<p>The force\u2019s mandate, Nebenzia argued, allows members \u201cto use force against anyone and everyone labelled with the vague term \u2018gangs&#8217;\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Haiti has had a long and troubled history of foreign intervention. Most recently, following a deadly 2010 earthquake in Haiti, an outbreak of cholera was linked to poor sanitation practices among UN peacekeepers, killing 10,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>UN personnel in Haiti also faced multiple accusations of sexual assault in the 2000s and 2010s.<\/p>\n<p>Haiti has seen mushrooming levels of gang violence in recent years, particularly after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.<\/p>\n<p>His death left a power vacuum in Haiti. No presidential elections have been held since his 2016 victory, and Moise had indefinitely <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2021\/9\/28\/haiti-elections-postponed-indefinitely-amid-crisis\">postponed legislative elections<\/a> during his time in office. Haiti\u2019s last democratically elected senators saw their terms <a href=\"http:\/\/aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/1\/10\/haitis-political-crisis-worsens-as-senate-terms-expire\">expire in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Criminal groups have used the disarray in the government to question the legitimacy of Haiti\u2019s leaders and expand their reach across the country.<\/p>\n<p>As much as 90 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince has fallen under gang control, with approximately 26 criminal groups operating in the densely populated area.<\/p>\n<p>In January, the UN estimated that at least 16,000 people had been killed since 2022, and more than 1.5 million were forced from their homes. Many lack adequate food to eat.<\/p>\n<p>A more recent report (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/hrbodies\/hrcouncil\/sessions-regular\/session61\/advance-version\/a-hrc-61-74-auv.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PDF<\/a>) found that \u2014 from March 2025 through January 15 of this year \u2014 at least 5,519 gang-related deaths were reported and 2,608 were injured.<\/p>\n<p>It noted that some victims were imprisoned and subjected to gang-led \u201ctrials\u201d. In certain cases, victims were released with a fine. In others, they were shot dead, and their bodies lit on fire. There were also reports of sexual violence being used as punishment.<\/p>\n<p>The arrival of the Gang Suppression Force comes as Haiti takes steps to hold a national election after years of delays.<\/p>\n<p>The country is scheduled to hold a first round of voting in August. Roughly 300 political parties and groups have registered to take part.<\/p>\n<p>Haiti is currently led by acting Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, who recently met with UN officials to discuss gang suppression efforts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The force has an initial mandate of 12 months to address widespread gang violence in Haiti ahead of its elections. The first foreign troops from a new United Nations-backed force have arrived in Haiti in an effort to combat escalating levels of gang violence in the Caribbean country. On Wednesday, the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) &#8230; <a title=\"First troops from UN-backed Gang Suppression Force arrive in Haiti\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/02\/first-troops-from-un-backed-gang-suppression-force-arrive-in-haiti\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about First troops from UN-backed Gang Suppression Force arrive in Haiti\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}