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

B100413/2025

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 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 11 September 2025, at least 42 people, including a 4-year-old child, were killed in Labodrie, a fishing village north of Port-au-Prince, by a criminal gang;

B. whereas criminal gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021; whereas this has led to massive insecurity, kidnappings, and large-scale attacks on the police, politicians, journalists, hospitals and civilians;

C. whereas since the Duvalier family’s dictatorship (1957-1986), Haiti’s political and economic elites have been using gangs for political ends; whereas drug trafficking became a significant source of income for Haiti’s elites who provided protection and logistical support for drug traffickers;

D. whereas there has been a massive illegal migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic; whereas from 2016 until April 2025, the Dominican Republic returned 1,177,813 illegal migrants;

E. whereas the EU has provided over 538 million EUR in humanitarian assistance to Haiti since 1994; whereas in February 2025, the EU disbursed 19.5 million EUR in budget support to Haiti, aimed at reinforcing the Haitian government’s capacity to deliver essential services;

F. whereas Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) was set up in 2024 by the Organisation of American States to restore governance and democracy;

Is deeply concerned that the expansion of gang territorial control is spreading violence and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people;

Is of the opinion that the current crisis in Haiti is a political-criminal crisis in which the use of large-scale violence is used by gangs to obtain or maintain a dominant position within Haiti’s political system and to position themselves as the de facto authority in many areas of the country;

Notes that the TPC is mired in internal conflict and corruption; considers the EU’s decision to provide budget support to Haiti a waste of taxpayer’s money;

Is deeply concerned that Haiti’s criminal-political crisis risks fueling further migration, straining governments in the region and deepening security challenges for the United States and other countries in the region;

Strongly supports the Dominican Republic’s return policy of illegal immigrants;

Notes that the international sanctions regime on Haiti is disorganised and uncoordinated;

Notes that the current UN peacekeeping mission has failed and that an expanded mission would likely be resisted within Haiti;

Calls on the actors and states in the region to coordinate more closely to choke off the resources sustaining gang power, thereby targeting illicit financial flows, combatting drugs and human trafficking, pursuing extraditions and prosecuting individuals;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Organisation of American States and the Transitional Presidential Council.