UN official raises alarm as Haiti gangs expand control beyond strongholds
United Nations (UN) Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has raised alarm over the surging crisis in Haiti, which has plummeted to a new low.
In a statement issued by the UN Human Rights on Friday, June 13, 2025, Volker Türk noted that gangs in Haiti had extended their reach beyond Port-au-Prince and into the central regions of the country, carrying out killings, rapes and kidnappings.
He noted that a record 1.3 million people are now displaced by violence.
“Alarming as they are, numbers cannot express the horrors Haitians are being forced to endure on a daily basis,” Türk said.
“I am horrified by the ever-increasing spread of gang attacks and other human rights abuses beyond the capital, and deeply concerned by their destabilising impact on other countries in the region.
“While law enforcement struggles to restore security, mob and self-defence groups are taking the matter into their own hands, leading to even more human rights abuses,” he added.
Renews calls for MSS support
While exposing the surging violence, Volker Türk called for renewed support for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission currently led by Kenya.
In his statement, Volker Türk lamented that the Kenya-led MSS mission lacks proper resources and equipment to tackle the insecurity situation.
Nonetheless, he challenged the officers to ensure no illegal weapons are smuggled into the Caribbean nation to worsen the situation.
“I call for renewed support to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which is under-resourced and under-equipped, and for the full implementation of the Security Council’s arms embargo. No more illegal weapons should be allowed to facilitate the horrors unfolding in Haiti,” the human rights chief pleaded.
Mudavadi’s recent call
In May 2025, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi revealed that the Haiti Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission led by Kenya had been operating without the necessary equipment and support.
While meeting the Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez in Santo Domingo, the two said that the mission will achieve greater success if the officers are furnished with better equipment and logistical support.
The talks also led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Medical evacuation, Repatriation of Wounded, and Deceased Persons, Access to Dominican Territory for Kenyan Members of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti.
