Dominican leader urges UN to step up backing for Haiti mission

SANTO DOMINGO, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader urged the United Nations on Wednesday to act in Haiti, calling for more troops, tighter arms enforcement ​and stronger backing for Haitian institutions as gang violence ‌deepens in his country’s crisis-hit neighbor.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Abinader said the Security Council had already approved the framework for an international force in Haiti, but not the means to make it effective.

• He said ‌the ​mission must be fully deployed, the ⁠arms embargo enforced and sanctions ⁠imposed on financing of gangs. Haiti’s police, armed forces and justice system need support so security can eventually be sustained domestically.

• “Renewing without completing would be to prolong an unfulfilled ​promise,” Abinader said, referring to the force’s mandate, which expires next week.

• Abinader pointed to last month’s attack in Kenscoff, ⁠a hillside community overlooking routes into ⁠Port-au-Prince, where at least 47 people were killed, ​including children, in one of the deadliest recent assaults.

• Haiti’s ​security crisis has worsened despite international intervention efforts. The current ‌force replaced the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission and has an authorized ceiling of 5,550 personnel, but only about one-fifth of that has been deployed so far.

• Abinader said the Dominican ⁠Republic had already “done its part” by helping build support for the Security Council resolution, contributing financially to the fund, facilitating logistics and ⁠UN support operations ‌from its territory, cooperating with sanctions enforcement and ⁠treating mission personnel in Dominican hospitals.

• He ​added that ‌Santo Domingo would continue to protect its ​border and ⁠enforce its migration laws, insisting that “there is no Dominican solution” to Haiti’s crisis.

• The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and has repeatedly warned that the unrest poses a direct national security threat.

(Reporting by Paul Mathiasen and Kylie Madry; Editing ​by Cynthia Osterman)