Abinader presses UN to fully deploy Haiti force before mandate lapses

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader used his address to the UN General Assembly to press for stronger international action on Haiti, warning that the security mission there remains far short of what was promised.

Abinader said the Security Council had approved the framework for an international force but had not provided the means to make it effective. He called for the mission to be fully deployed, the arms embargo enforced and sanctions imposed on those financing gangs.

He also argued that Haiti's police, armed forces and justice system need support so that security can eventually be sustained domestically.

"Renewing without completing would be to prolong an unfulfilled promise," Abinader said, referring to the force's mandate, which expires next week.

He pointed to last month's attack in Kenscoff, a hillside community overlooking routes into Port-au-Prince, where at least 47 people were killed, including children, in one of the deadliest recent assaults.

Haiti's security crisis has worsened despite international intervention efforts. The current force replaced the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission and has an authorized ceiling of 5,550 personnel, but only about one-fifth of that has been deployed so far.

Abinader said the Dominican Republic had already done its part by helping build support for the Security Council resolution, contributing financially to the fund, facilitating logistics and UN support operations from its territory, cooperating with sanctions enforcement and treating mission personnel in Dominican hospitals.

He added that Santo Domingo would continue to protect its border and enforce its migration laws, insisting that "there is no Dominican solution" to Haiti's crisis.

The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and has repeatedly warned that the unrest poses a direct national security threat.