ISLAMABAD (PEN) : Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council to take immediate and decisive collective measures to restore political stability in Haiti amid escalating gang violence that has severely destabilized the Caribbean nation.
Speaking at the Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, stressed that “the time for half-measures is over.” He highlighted the critical situation, saying, “The gangs’ stranglehold has turned Haiti’s streets into battlegrounds; vigilante killings are on the rise, children are being recruited by armed groups, and the economic collapse and breakdown of basic services subject hundreds of thousands of Haitians to live in fear and face acute food shortages.”
This meeting marked the first under Pakistan’s presidency of the Security Council for July, where Ambassador Asim Iftikhar addressed the Council in his national capacity. He conveyed Pakistan’s deep concern over Haiti’s rapid decline into chaos, characterized by rampant gang violence, vigilantism, and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Pakistan underscored the need for political unity and responsible leadership in Haiti to promote national consensus and guide the country’s recovery through a Haitian-led and Haitian-owned process. The envoy also voiced strong support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission led by Kenya and other troop-contributing nations, calling on the Council to ensure that the mission is “robust, well-resourced, and effective,” with a focus on strengthening Haiti’s police, justice, and governance capacities in the long term.
“Anything less risks collective failure tomorrow,” Ambassador Ahmad warned, adding, “The people of Haiti deserve to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and want.” He affirmed Pakistan’s readiness to help forge consensus within the Council to bring security and hope to Haitians.
In his briefing, Miroslav Jenca, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, highlighted a “sharp erosion of State authority and the rule of law” since his January visit, noting that “brutal gang violence” has crippled daily life in Haiti. He warned that the capital, Port-au-Prince, remains paralyzed by gangs and isolated due to the suspension of international commercial flights to Toussaint-Louverture airport. The gangs’ influence has expanded across all communes of the metropolitan area and beyond.
Mr. Jenca urged the international community to take urgent action, cautioning that the “total collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real scenario.”
Echoing these concerns, Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), spoke remotely from Vienna, emphasizing that “as gang control expands, the state’s capacity to govern is rapidly shrinking, with social, economic and security implications.” She pointed to the paralysis of legal commerce due to gang control over major trade routes and warned that these conditions are exacerbating already severe food insecurity and humanitarian needs in Haiti.
