On the humanitarian and security situation in Haiti, in particular the rising power of criminal gangs and the recent massacre in Cabaret

B100430/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the humanitarian and security situation in Haiti, in particular the rising power of criminal gangs and the recent massacre in Cabaret

(2025/2905(RSP))

The European Parliament,

having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure;

having regard to its previous resolutions on Haiti, notably that of 6 October 2022;

Whereas the humanitarian situation in Haiti has steadily worsened over recent years amid persistent insecurity; whereas since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, armed gangs have increasingly entrenched their power;

Whereas in September 2025 a massacre in the commune of Cabaret, following the killing of a local gang leader, triggered brutal reprisals by armed groups that left dozens dead, homes burned, and hundreds displaced;

Whereas by mid-2025, gang violence has claimed nearly 5,000 lives between October 2024 and June 2025,

Whereas, according to UN reporting and Security Council documents evidence, drugs are being transited through Haiti to markets in the U.S. and Europe;

Whereas Haitian gangs’ primary revenue sources include ransom from kidnapping, control of informal markets (fuel, food), extortion, robbery, trafficking with small arms, and increasingly, and the facilitation of transnational illicit flows (drugs and migrants);

Whereas South American large transnational cartels (Colombian producers, Mexican distribution networks, regional Venezuelan-linked flows) control production and the higher-level organization;

Whereas in 2025 the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti suffered significant casualties, with one Kenyan police officer fatally shot while assisting residents in Pont-Sondé in February and another killed in a September armored vehicle accident that also injured eight soldiers;

Whereas in September 2025, thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the United States, the United Nations Security Council approved the deployment of a new international security force.

Strongly condemns the acts of violence and destruction carried out by gangs in Haiti, and deplores the looting of food and aid supplies and attacks against humanitarian workers; denounces, in particular, the acts of violence carried out the massacre in the commune of Cabaret and expresses solidarity with the victims’ families and loved ones;

Firmly condemns the widespread use of sexual violence by gangs and the recruitment of minors in gang activities, which violate international human rights and humanitarian law; stresses that such continuing violence gravely deprives citizens of their fundamental rights to security, dignity, and protection, and deepens the humanitarian crisis in the country;

Demands an immediate cessation of gang violence and criminal activities and welcomes the decision of the United Nations Security Council to authorize the deployment of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), a strengthened international security contingent of police and military personnel with the mandate to crack down on gangs activity;

Highlights the importance of the main and still active players in civil society, including churches, trade unions, youth and human rights organisations, and calls for the restoration of the power and legitimacy of public institutions;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the institutions of the European Union, the institutions of the CARIFORUM, the Organization of American States and the Government and Parliament of Haiti.