On escalating trafficking and exploitation by criminal groups in Haiti

B100222/2026

European Parliament resolution on escalating trafficking and exploitation by criminal groups in Haiti

(2026/2702(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rule 150 (5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas the EU EUR 591.5 million assistance to Haiti, as well as the two previous UN peace keeping and justice support missions provided very limited results; whereas criminal gangs in Haiti have grown in power; whereas this has led to massive insecurity, kidnappings and large-scale attacks on the police, politicians, journalists, hospitals and civilians;

whereas criminal groups are systematically recruiting, coercing and exploiting children for criminal activities, sexual violence and forced labour; whereas the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that child recruitment tripled in 2025, with children estimated to make up between 30 to 50 per cent of criminal groups; whereas gangs exploit women and girls in sex trafficking and domestic labour;

whereas in 2023 in October 2023 the UN Security Council authorised a Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission; whereas on 30 September 2025 it adopted Resolution 2793 transforming the MSS into a Gang Suppression Force;

whereas in early 2025 Vectus Global, a US private military firm, was reportedly engaged by Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council to assist in combating gangs and restoring customs revenues;

Expresses concern that the people of Haiti suffer from decades of multidimensional chronic 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 political authority in many areas of the country;

Is deeply concerned by the escalating trafficking and exploitation by criminal groups, fuelled by years of institutional breakdown, compounded by armed violence, lack of effective government and widespread impunity;

Notes that very weak law enforcement capabilities and corruption hinder the transition government’s efforts to combat trafficking; notes that official complicity in trafficking crimes remain problematic; considers that the reliance on foreign private military contractors has further complicated accountability;

Shares serious concerns about the spill-over effects the crisis has regionally; stresses the economic and social impacts the Haitian migration has on the Dominican Republic; takes note of decisions by the United States and the Dominican Republic to tighten Haitian migration policies on public safety grounds;

Takes note of the newly established UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH); considers that the different international operations and missions have been ineffective and have failed to prevent the collapse of institutions; warns that further armed intervention risks escalating violence rather than containing it;

Calls on states and regional actors to closely coordinate to tackle the root causes of the security crisis, including by cutting the resources sustaining gang power, combatting illicit financial flows, drugs and human trafficking, by pursuing extraditions and prosecuting individuals;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the 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 authorities in Haiti.