UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take immediate, concrete steps to address the deepening crisis in Haiti, warning that the country’s gang-fuelled turmoil is pushing it towards complete collapse.
Chairing the Council’s first formal session under Pakistan’s presidency for July, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, said that the time for “half measures” in Haiti had passed.
“The gangs’ stranglehold has turned Haiti’s streets into battlegrounds,” Ambassador Asim told the 15-member Council. “Vigilante killings are rising, children are being forcibly recruited into armed groups, and the breakdown of basic services has left hundreds of thousands living in fear and facing severe food shortages.”
Presiding in his national capacity, Ambassador Asim stressed that only a Haitian-led political solution backed by strong international support could resolve the crisis.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s backing for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, led by Kenya along with other troop-contributing nations, urging the Council to ensure the mission is robust, well-resourced, and effective.
“Anything less risks collective failure tomorrow,” he cautioned. “The people of Haiti deserve to live in peace and dignity, free from fear and want. Pakistan stands ready to help build consensus in the Council to bring hope and security to Haitians.”
UN officials painted a grim picture of the situation. Miroslav Jenca, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Americas, told the Council that Haiti’s state authority had sharply eroded since January, with gangs paralysing Port-au-Prince and severing it from the outside world by halting commercial flights. He warned that the total collapse of state institutions could soon become reality.
Meanwhile, Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said from Vienna that gangs had tightened their control over trade routes, strangling legal commerce and deepening food insecurity and humanitarian distress.
“The state’s capacity to govern is rapidly shrinking,” she warned. “This erosion of state legitimacy has cascading effects.”
Highlighting Kashmir at the UN
Earlier, speaking at a news conference at UN headquarters, Ambassador Asim drew attention to the long-standing Kashmir dispute, stressing that it remains unresolved.
“It is time that this issue is addressed,” he said. “And I would say this is not only the responsibility of Pakistan. We are here temporarily for two years as a non-permanent member,” he added, urging the UNSC – particularly its permanent members – to ensure that their own resolutions are implemented.
Pakistan assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC on July 1, marking a critical opportunity for Islamabad to spotlight key regional and international issues during its tenure this month.
