Gang violence in Haiti at record levels amid criticisms US has no 'clear strategy'

Gangs in Haiti killed at least 5,600 people last year, according to a new United Nations report. The report from the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights said an additional 3,700 were injured or abducted, leading some to criticize the Biden administration for not doing enough.

"The Biden administration has taken a piecemeal and politicized response to the crisis which focused on preventing it from blowing up ahead of the elections but not resolving it," Andrés Martínez-Fernández, senior policy analyst for Latin America at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.

Biden gave $629 million in financial and equipment support to Haiti with $600 million already allocated, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. By comparison, Congress provided Ukraine with more than $113 billion. 

"At the end of the day, it is a similar issue in both Ukraine and Haiti that our involvement does not seem to have a clear strategy underlying it," Martínez-Fernández added. 

SITUATION IN HAITI WORSENS AMID ‘ACUTE VIOLENCE’ AS UN SUPPORT MISSION FALTERS UNDER GANG VIOLENCE 

In a horrific incident in early December, at least 207 people were massacred in the capital city Port-au-Prince by the Wharf Jérémie gang. The victims, many of them elderly, were accused of using voodoo to harm the gang leader’s son. Their bodies were mutilated and burned, and others were thrown into the sea.

Gangs now control approximately 85% of the capital, according to a recent VOA report. 

"These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti, but they show the unremitting violence to which people are being subjected," said the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

Türk emphasized the urgent need to restore the rule of law in Haiti. He called for strong logistical and financial backing for the U.N.-supported Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) to help it carry out its mandate effectively.

The MSS pledged more than 2,500 personnel from several countries, yet only around 500 have been deployed so far. Many have not been paid for months and are hugely outnumbered against the 12,000 gang members operating in the country, according to a BBC report.

‘LAWLESS’ HAITI PLAGUED BY CORRUPTION AND DEADLY GANG VIOLENCE FUELS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

The State Department defended its record and pointed to a joint operation on Dec. 15 by MSS and Haitian police that resulted in the death of a high-profile gang leader. But with violence surging, even the State Department admits that more needs to be done. 

"Current personnel levels are clearly insufficient at restoring the rule of law and security to Haiti," said the spokesperson, adding, "Given current challenges, however, the United States has backed the Haitian-led call for transitioning the MSS mission to a UNPKO (United Nation Peacekeeping Operation)."

Martínez-Fernández said that is unlikely to happen. "There are significant challenges regarding its feasibility, especially due to the lack of approval in the Security Council. China, in particular, has strongly opposed such efforts and I anticipate they will continue to veto them."

In the U.N. report, Türk renewed his call for the U.N. Security Council's sanctions on Haiti and the arms embargo to be fully implemented to stop the flow of weapons into the country. 

"Weapons flowing into Haiti often end up in the hands of the criminal gangs, with tragic results: thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, essential infrastructure and services, such as schools and hospitals, disrupted and destroyed."