Santo Domingo.- On Monday, President Luis Abinader declared his intention to address the escalating crisis in Haiti during his participation in a UN Security Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday. The Dominican leader emphasized his commitment to urging the swift deployment of a pledged multinational mission aimed at assisting in stabilizing the troubled neighboring nation.
Speaking at a press conference in the National Palace of Santo Domingo, Abinader revealed that his attendance at the meeting was in response to an invitation extended by Guyana’s President, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who currently presides over the UN Security Council for the month. Abinader, set to travel to New York on the same day, underscored the urgency of deploying the multinational mission, initially spearheaded by Kenya. However, the mission encountered a setback when the Superior Court of Nairobi suspended the dispatch of a thousand police officers to Haiti.
President Abinader attributed the delay to financial constraints rather than legal issues, pointing out that Kenya, being a non-affluent nation, lacked the necessary resources for the mission. He highlighted the critical nature of the situation, cautioning that the crisis in Haiti had far-reaching implications for the Dominican Republic, currently grappling with its own deep-seated issues and under the influence of armed groups controlling parts of the country, particularly Port-au-Prince.
In a stark update on the state of affairs in Haiti, the United Nations reported a surge in violence in January, reaching levels not witnessed in over two years. The month saw at least 806 individuals, unrelated to gang conflicts, either killed, injured, or kidnapped. Additionally, around 300 gang members sustained injuries, pushing the total number of affected individuals to over 1,100—more than triple the figures from the same period last year.
The intensification of violence has resulted in over 300,000 people being displaced in Haiti, forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge in various locations, where they endure deplorable living conditions. President Abinader’s upcoming address at the UN Security Council underscores the gravity of the situation and the crucial need for international intervention to address the escalating crisis in Haiti.