Statement
Statement summary
“Just a four-hour plane ride from here, a human tragedy is unfolding — one of the most devastating of our hemisphere,” emphasized Anthony Franck Laurent Saint Cyr, President of the Presidential Council of the Transition of Haiti. “Every day, innocent lives are extinguished by bullets, fire, fear”, with neighbourhoods disappearing and more than a million people “forced into internal exile”. Thousands of children have been deprived of education, hundreds of women and girls have been raped and nearly half of the population faces acute food insecurity. Hospitals are being attacked, doctors are fleeing and lives are being lost due to lack of care. “This is the face of Haiti today: a country at war, a modern-day Guernica, a human tragedy at the doorstep of America.”
“Haiti wants peace. Haiti expects peace. Haiti has the right to peace,” he declared. He urged strong coordinated and immediate action in his country’s war against “criminals that want to impose violence as a social order”. Demanding a firm and determined response, he stressed: “Today, the international community must stand alongside Haiti and take large-scale measures, not half-steps.” Paying tribute to the Haitian and Kenyan heroes who have lost their lives, he reported that out of the 2,500 troops “initially required and promised”, there are only 1,000 members of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS). The Mission, alongside Haiti’s efforts, which include a 40 per cent increase in the security forces budget, recruitment of new members and acquisition of more materiel and equipment, have not been sufficient to contain the crisis.
“Haiti is at the epicentre of an unprecedented regional threat,” he warned. If the battle is lost in his country, it will be futile to try to contain it in the rest of the region. “It is crucial to mobilize a strong force with a clear mandate and with adequate materiel, logistical and financial resources,” he said. The lessons learned by the Mission and the recommendations of Haitian experts must be taken into account. He called for heightened international cooperation in intelligence sharing and rigorous border control to curb the flow of arms, ammunition, and drugs and the financing of gangs. Regional partners must ensure their territories do not serve as starting points or transit hubs for trafficking.
Voicing support for efforts to transform the Mission, he urged the Security Council to adopt a resolution establishing a gang suppression force, which would mark a “turning point” in Haiti’s fight against insecurity. He criticized “endless talk, drawn-out negotiations, stalemate caused by geopolitical considerations”, stressing that “every day that we hesitate, criminal gangs benefit”. Detailing the Transitional Presidential Council’s efforts to hold free, fair and inclusive elections, address humanitarian needs and strengthen institutions and civic space, he stressed that immediate assistance for Haiti must move to investments. Noting that 2025 marks the bicentennial of the order for Haiti to pay a ransom for recognizing its own independence, he said his country has established a national reparations and restitution committee. “France […] today has the opportunity to write a new chapter in its history with Haiti by honouring the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity,” he said.
“This is the face of Haiti today: a country at war, a modern-day Guernica, a human tragedy.” From the podium of the UN General Assembly, Haiti’s transitional leader delivered a stark plea to the international community.
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Read also the UN News story in Kiswahili and Urdu about the declaration made by the President of the Presidential Council of the Transition of Haiti at the General Debate.
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At the heart of his speech was the urgency of breaking free from spiralling violence, alongside a call to close what he described as two centuries of historical injustice.
Laurent Saint-Cyr painted a bleak picture: murders, gang rapes, famine and more than a million people displaced.
“It is a war between criminals who want to impose violence as the social order and an unarmed population struggling to preserve human dignity,” he said.
Armed gangs now control much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and continue to spread terror nationwide.
Support mission stretched thin
For the past 15 months, a Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) – authorized by the Security Council but reliant on voluntary contributions – has tried to restore stability.
Of the 2,500 police officers initially pledged, fewer than 1,000 have been deployed. While the force secured Haiti’s main airport and reopened some roads, it has not halted Port-au-Prince’s slide into near anarchy.
“Their bravery was not enough to contain the crisis,” Mr. Saint-Cyr told the UN General Assembly.
Push for a new ‘suppression force’
With the MSS mandate due to expire in early October, Haiti – backed by the United States and Panama – is urging the creation of a 5,500-strong Gang Suppression Force.
Washington wants the new mission mandated under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, allowing the use of force against threats to peace.
The proposal includes a new UN Support Office in Haiti and a clear mandate: to neutralise gangs, secure key infrastructure and restore minimum institutional stability.
“Haiti wants peace. Haiti is waiting for peace. Haiti has the right to peace,” Mr. Saint-Cyr declared, warning against a security vacuum if the current mission ends. A vote is reportedly expected in the coming days.
Political transition unfinished
Security alone, however, will not resolve Haiti’s turmoil. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, the country has been without an elected government. Successive interim administrations have failed to re-establish order.
The transitional council, formed in 2024 after a compromise brokered by the Caribbean Community of nations (CARICOM), is tasked with organising elections.
Saint-Cyr said that more than 85 per cent of polling stations have been identified and $65 million secured. “The Haitian people must be able to choose their leaders,” he said, calling free and credible elections essential to ending the provisional state.
The ‘ransom’ of independence
The Haitian leader also pressed for reparations from France, recalling the 1825 ordinance that forced Haiti to pay 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognition of independence – a “ransom” that drained its economy until 1947, he told delegates.
“Our voice is raised to demand reparations, not in a spirit of revenge, but with a concern for justice and truth,” he said. France’s National Assembly acknowledged the injustice in June, and Haiti has since set up a National Committee for Reparations and Restitution.
“France now has the opportunity to write a new page in its history with Haiti,” Mr. Saint-Cyr insisted, echoing wider UN debates on colonial reparations.
Beyond historical reflections, the Haitian leader said urgent was needed to curb gang power. “Every day that passes, benefits the gangs that are suffocating Haiti,” he warned. “If the Security Council does not act quickly, the country risks sinking further into chaos.”
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