Haiti continues to wallow in deep crisis as criminal gangs entrench their violent control over nearly 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country. These armed groups have become a de facto regime of terror.
Especially chilling is the rampant sexual violence being used as a twisted reward for gang members, some as young as 14. As I noted in my previous commentary, young women and girls are being raped with impunity in areas under gang rule. Kidnappings for ransom are an everyday fear, and normal life is grasped in the brief moments that it comes. The trauma inflicted on Haitian society is incalculable.
The Transitional National Council (TNC), charged with governing Haiti until February 2026, has been unable to contain this descent into chaos. The Haitian National Police are both outmanned and outgunned. Meanwhile, the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission of mostly Kenyan troops—deployed in the absence of a UN Security Council-authorized force—is largely confined to barracks. Starved of funding and operating without a clear mandate to use force, their capacity to confront the gangs is essentially non-existent.
Faced with these dire realities, the TNC has taken an extraordinary and controversial step: hiring a private mercenary group to combat the gangs. Until last week, this initiative remained unannounced and unexplained. The TNC had not identified the group involved, disclosed the financial terms, or described its rules of engagement. Surprisingly, this development has received scant international press coverage. But details are now beginning to emerge.
According to the UK Guardian newspaper, the mercenary group has deployed “first-person view” (FPV) kamikaze drones—equipped with commercial mining explosives—to identify and kill gang leaders. But after three months of drone operations, not a single gang leader has been confirmed killed. Instead, several drone strikes have damaged buildings in gang-controlled zones and may have harmed civilians. These are dangerous occurrences in a fragile and densely populated environment.
Yet the TNC’s decision is not without logic. With a paralysed MSS, a compromised national police force, and no external military assistance under UN authority, Haitian leaders are at the end of their tether. In this vacuum, the mercenaries appear to be the only actors taking the fight directly to the gangs. And this has led even some Haitian human rights defenders to reluctantly view the use of mercenaries as a “necessary evil.”
But this course of action is fraught with risk. As I warned earlier, it is only a matter of time before the gangs strike back using the same technology. That time may be fast approaching. Reports surfaced last month of three alleged gang members being arrested in neighbouring Dominican Republic while attempting to purchase drones. Meanwhile, the mercenary group in Haiti is reportedly building a 150-person strike force from among overseas-based Haitians with prior service in the military forces of Canada, France, and the United States. A substantial weapons cache has already been moved into the country.
I am not surprised at this development. More than two years ago, leaders in the Haitian diaspora in the United States told me they were willing to organize themselves into a military-style force under credible leadership to confront the gangs. They already had an organizational blueprint. That vision now appears to be taking form.
Some voices—like that of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio—have suggested that, in the face of UN Security Council inaction, the Organization of American States (OAS) should take the lead. However, the OAS has no military capability, and its Charter forbids intervention in the domestic affairs of its Member States. Even if the Haitian government invited them, governments would still draw back in the absence of international authority.
It is in this context that the OAS held its 55th Regular Session of the General Assembly on June 27, 2025, in Antigua and Barbuda. The Assembly adopted a resolution, “Calling for Concrete Solutions to Resolve the Grave Security and Institutional Crisis in Haiti.”
The resolution acknowledges Haiti’s deep security, political, economic, and humanitarian collapse. It calls for urgent and coordinated international cooperation—multilateral, regional, and bilateral—to support Haiti; assistance to restore law and order, facilitate humanitarian aid, and organize free and fair elections; increased contributions to the MSS mission and the Haitian police; stricter enforcement of arms embargoes and illegal weapons control; judicial reform and anti-corruption efforts to tackle root causes of instability; and a 45-day deadline for the OAS Secretary General to present a consolidated Action Plan—developed in consultation with Haiti and the UN—to provide a structured roadmap for institutional support and national recovery.
The problem with the resolution is that it is binding on no one, and the Secretary General cannot develop a plan that is not approved, mandated, and resourced by Member States. So, while the resolution is encouraging, it is still words on paper. Haiti needs action, not just the expression of commitments. It requires resources, not just rhetoric.
Worse now, US President Donald Trump has called for slashing $9.4 billion in UN contributions. As columnist Jacqueline Charles pointed out recently in The Miami Herald, this would jeopardize programmes for Haiti, including the MSS mission.
If this crisis escalates—as it now seems set to do—the consequences will not stop at Haiti’s borders. Regional migration pressures, transnational crime, and humanitarian spillovers will affect us all. Warfare of drones, gangs, and mercenaries will not spare the Haitian people from suffering. It may seem necessary out of desperation, but the longer this violent path continues, the harder it becomes to find a peaceful solution.
CARICOM does not have the money or troops to help Haiti. Still, it does have the capacity for diplomatic coordination, humanitarian response, and high-level advocacy at the UN, as well as for assisting the OAS Secretary General’s plan to become a reality.