U.N. votes to end Haiti peace mission in October

UNITED NATIONS — The Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to end the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti in mid-October after 13 years, signaling that the international community believes the impoverished Caribbean nation is stabilizing after successful elections.

The peacekeepers helped normalize a country in chaos after political upheaval in 2004; a 2010 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people; and Hurricane Matthew, which caused devastation in October.

But they also leave under a cloud. U.N. troops from Nepal are widely blamed for introducing cholera that has killed at least 9,500 people in Haiti since 2010. And some troops also have been implicated in sexual abuse, including of hungry children, an issue reported on Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The resolution approved by the U.N.’s most powerful body extends the mandate of the mission, known as MINUSTAH, for a final six months during which the 2,370 military personnel will gradually leave. It creates a follow-on mission for an initial period of six months comprising 1,275 police who will continue training the national police force.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycrof said the resolution sends a signal that once peacekeepers aren’t needed, U.N. missions should close or transform to focus on other challenges.

A political crisis and ensuing street protests stemming from a repeatedly derailed 2015 electoral cycle again threatened the stability of the country, but an elected president and lawmakers are now in place.

Citing the AP story, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said that while the departure of the peacekeepers “is seen as a success, unfortunately it’s a nightmare for many in Haiti who will never be able to forget and live with brutal scars.”

At least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers exploited nine Haitian children in a sex ring from 2004 to 2007, according to an internal U.N. report.

The Security Council vote came on the same day that the U.N. tackled the alleged killings of gays in Chechnya. The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in calling for urgent action from the Russian government.