Haiti asks for assistance from foreign police forces

• Haiti’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Haitian government should seek the help of foreign police forces to fight gang violence.

As the Caribbean nation struggles to deal with the growing gang violence, the Haitian government has announced that it intends to enlist the help of foreign police forces.

The Associated Press news agency reported on Friday that although a formal, written request had not yet been made, the administration would seek the assistance of the foreign military.

The ruling was initially covered by the Miami Herald newspaper earlier in the day.

Armed gangs are fighting for control of important roadways and neighborhoods, which has resulted in an increase in violence in Port-au-Prince, the capital, in recent months. A gang blockade of Haiti’s main petroleum port for several weeks has also rendered most of the country paralyzed, resulting in severe shortages.

A decree that is making the rounds online claims that the Haitian government gave Prime Minister Ariel Henry permission to approach “Haiti’s international partners” for assistance with the “urgent deployment of a specialized armed force” to deal with the escalating security issue on Thursday.

During a Friday Organization of American States (OAS) session in Lima, Peru, Al Jazeera’s Mariana Sanchez reported that Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus pleaded for international police support and described the economic condition in his country as “catastrophic.”

The foreign minister claimed that criminals controlled a petroleum facility, which had wreaked “huge chaos,” according to Sanchez.

It has an impact on how drinking water is distributed, as well as how transportation works and how hospitals operate. He formally requested support for an international police force as a result. A police force, not a military force,” she emphasized.

Participants at the conference had inquiries regarding the proposed international police force, including who would be in charge of it and whether the United Nations would take part, according to Sanchez.

According to Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, the proposed future police force must be led by Haitians, and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated at the summit that Washington was dedicated to restoring security in Haiti. Sanchez added.

In a tweet posted on Thursday, Luis Almagro, the secretary-general of the OAS, urged Haiti to “seek urgent support from the international community to help solve security situation and decide features of the international security force.”

According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Friday, the Haitian government has not formally requested security help from the international organization.

Despite this, Dujarric told reporters, “We remain deeply concerned about the security situation in Haiti, the effect it is having on the Haitian people, and the impact it is having on our capacity to carry out our work, particularly in the humanitarian area.

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