UN ends peacekeeping mission in Haiti

Amid ever increasing protests, the last U.N. peacekeepers exit Haiti after 15 years.

Making good on a 2017 vote, on Tuesday the UN Security Council ended its 15-year mission to stabilize Haiti, leaving a mixed legacy in a country that has entered a fifth week of anti-government protests.

The UN first sent peacekeepers after the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by the army in 2004 under the pressure of a popular uprising.

In 2017, the United Nations replaced those soldiers with a police mission to train Haiti’s forces, gradually reducing the number of officers from 1,300 to 600 and now to zero, with a scaled-down political operation to remain.

Haiti’s current uprising grew in late August, with President Jovenel Moise reported to have siphoned off petrol funds during a national fuel shortage as the inflation rate reached over 17%. The response has left at least 20 people dead and more than 200 injured. Schools sit shuttered.

The United Nations and aid organizations have faced criticism for slow reconstruction efforts and failing to coordinate with the government and Haitians.

Via DW