Foreign forces are headed to fight Haiti’s gangs. But haven’t we been here before?

By Hira Humayun, CNN

(CNN) — Haiti is about to get a new set of foreign boots on the ground. The goal sounds simple: fight the gangs that have brought life to a standstill.

But the violence-wracked nation has been here before and Haitians could be forgiven for wondering whether the outcome this time will be any different.

The latest initiative, a UN-backed multi-national effort to be known as the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), will in April take over from where its Kenyan-led predecessor – the Multinational Security Support (MSS) – left off.

While the year-long Kenyan-led mission ended in what was widely perceived as a failure in October last year, it’s hoped that this time around the force will benefit from a fivefold increase in the number of troops committed – to an expected 5,500 – and what US Ambassador Mike Waltz has called a “strengthened mandate” to go after the gangs.

It’s also hoped that the new force will benefit from UN-backed logistical support through a UN Support Office in Haiti and largely avoid the funding shortfalls of its predecessor, which relied almost entirely on voluntary financial contributions from member states.

However, questions remain over its make-up and funding. While the GSF will be overseen by a “Standing Group of Partners” that includes the US, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya and The Bahamas, whether these countries themselves will be sending troops (and if so, how many) remains unclear. Chad, Benin and Bangladesh are among the nations to have previously pledged troops, according to Reuters, though none have so far deployed. It will also still rely at least partially on voluntary financial contributions, for example to pay personnel salaries.

And with gangs still controlling vast swaths of territory including key supply routes in the Caribbean country, whether the latest mission can really deliver on its promise to learn from past mistakes – and if so, at what cost – remains far from certain.

How Haiti got here

Haiti, which has a population of around 11 million, has long struggled with gang violence, but its most recent problems came to a head in 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by a group of more than two dozen mercenaries who swarmed his compound and shot him twelve times.

Exactly who ordered the attack remains contested, but what isn’t in dispute is that the resulting power vacuum was exploited by the country’s already powerful gangs. They seized their chance to expand their control by attacking civilians, blocking ports, and shutting down the airport. Within three years, the gangs were in control of as much as 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

On October 7, 2022, with his country devastated by violence, a crashing economy, a fuel crisis and COVID-19, Haiti’s then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested international military assistance.

Did it work?

By the time the Kenya-led force arrived in 2024 after delays linked to equipment shortages, they had their work cut out for them.

Gangs ruled Port-au-Prince, millions lived in fear of violence, and more than half a million people had fled their homes, Haiti’s interim prime minister at the time, Garry Conille, told CNN.

Despite the presence of the MSS, the gangs continued to launch major attacks. In the first five months of 2024, 2,680 people were killed and more than 300 kidnapped for ransom, according to UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk.

Gangs were still sexually abusing and recruiting children, and nearly 1.3 million people had been displaced – up 24% from six months prior.

Experts say the mission never had a chance. Shortfalls in personnel, funding and equipment severely limited anything that it hoped to achieve.

“Nothing has changed,” said Réginald Fils-Aimé, a Haitian doctor with Zanmi Lasante, Haiti’s largest non-governmental healthcare provider.

Several of the group’s hospitals have shut down due to the violence, including a top facility in Mirebalais, northeast of the capital, which treated more than 185,000 patients in the area.

Fils-Aimé said supply routes and major roads linking Port-au-Prince to other cities are still controlled by gangs, making vital medicines and equipment hard to access.

Meanwhile, the World Central Kitchen has had to temporarily close some of its community kitchens in the country, according to its Response Director John Torpey.

Better luck this time?

Experts say the gangs always had an upper hand over the MSS and were able to pick their battles as the Kenyan-led force struggled to keep up with its limited resources and manpower.

“(The MSS) were acting as a quick reaction force,” said Diego Da Rin, International Crisis Group’s Haiti analyst. “They were just reacting and kind of extinguishing fires the gangs were igniting on several fronts simultaneously.”

It’s hoped the GSF’s broadened mandate, which will see it operate independently of the Haitian police force, will allow it to take the fight to the gangs. Previously the MSS had been primarily a support force for the Haitian National Police.

But with that broader mandate come human rights concerns.

At what cost?

A more aggressive operation means a higher risk of harming civilians, particularly during close-quarter combat in densely populated areas, said Da Rin.

“Gangs have shown that they are always ready to use the civilians as human shields,” he noted.

Rights groups say clear safeguards must be in place, but it’s unclear whether the new force has a detailed code of conduct.

“We know that they are still working on that but it’s kind of too late,” said Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher Nathalye Cotrino.

Amnesty International’s Johanna Cilano Pelaez said it was particularly important that GSF troops be trained in gender-based violence and child protection. Many of Haiti’s gangs rely heavily on child recruits, with recruitment having surged three-fold in just a year, according to the UN.

She was also concerned about how the individual countries that will contribute to GSF will be selecting their troops. “We don’t know the way that the vetting process is working,” Pelaez said.

Another question facing the GSF, given its predecessor’s experience, is how well it will prepare local forces to take over when its mission is over.

Today, Haiti’s gangs are not what they were decades ago, experts point out. Once they were concentrated in a handful of the country’s slums, acting as paramilitaries for higher powers, politicians, and businessmen. Now, they’re more independent, with their own goals. They control checkpoints and routes that supply them with illegal weapons – and can finance themselves through extortion.

The months ahead will show whether the GSF is up to the task.

“I have hope,” said Fils-Aimé. “Of course, it is cautious.”

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CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.