Haiti: A Failed State and Failed by International Institutions

For citizens of western states, it is difficult to imagine what it feels like to live in a failed state. There are almost zero public services, the feeling of insecurity is rampant, and the people in charge can be anyone from proclaimed elected officials or a local drug lord. Failed states run the gamut of how far along statehood has spiralled into chaos. For Haitians, they are on life support as an anaemic failed state. Jean-Germain Gros provides a detailed description of anaemic failed state when the nation state is:

“sapped by counter-insurgency groups seeking to take the place of the authority that is formally in power. Not much can be done about this type of state until state leaders either defeat the enemy on the battlefield or accommodate their demand. States may also be anaemic because the engines of modernity were never put in place; as a result, as population growth puts increasing demands on archaic structures, state agents are in no position to assert effective control. In failed states of this sort, there is usually a modicum of centralised authority, but one that is so emaciated that state agents outside the capital city (or even in some neighbourhoods within it) are left entirely to fend for themselves; in essence, they become local and regional bosses loosely affiliated with authority figures at the centre.”

Political instability has been rampant in Haiti since the state declared independence from France in the 1700s. Foreign intervention from the United States ranged from occupation to election meddling. This has led to suspicions of democratic disorder through corruption allegations from elected officials producing social unrest from the general population. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the political establishment has been in free fall with a long line of leaders ruling by decree and postponing elections. This has created a power vacuum that a collaboration of armed gangs, led by a former police officer Jimmy Chérizier (aka Barbecue), has filled the void to run the country on their terms. They have consolidated control over 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince and are expanding into the countryside with coordinated attacks against the local police. This deteriorating situation has brought the need for foreign intervention (again) but this time, the United Nations is attempting to establish order in a different way.

Haiti has seen the United Nations attempt to provide assistance since the downfall of the Aristide administration. The United Nations launched the International civilian Mission in Haiti (MICIVIH) in 1993 to determine the impact of human rights violations. In June 2004, the MINUSTAH operation was deployed to stabilise the violence from armed gangs and Haitian police, in coordination with the Organization of American States (OAS) and from the Caribbean Community (CARIBCOM) regional groups. The operation was renewed several times over several years with minimal success. During this time, Haiti saw a deadly cholera outbreak, a disastrous earthquake, controversies regarding the UN peacekeepers who were accused of trading basic necessities for sexual favours and peacekeepers committing acts of violence against civilians in the Cite Soleil raid in 2007. In 2019, the UN determined that a new mandate (BINHU) needed to be issued to implement political stability, work closely with the Haitian government for a peaceful environment, and monitor human rights. The UN Security Council followed up by sending a multinational security mission to the country led by Kenya in 2023. There is reporting that the under-equipped, underfunded team sent to support the Haitian police force has only about 1,000 of the 2,500 officers they were expecting and has fallen short of addressing the immense challenge of fighting the violent armed gangs. It is not apparent what the United Nations has in the long-term goals to change the security situation in Haiti as a new Gang Suppression Force deploys to the country. While armed gangs control ports, roads, and major infrastructure, it does seem that the population feels abandoned by the global community.