Written answers

Wednesday, 5 October 2005

Department of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Conflicts

9:00 pm

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 231: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the present unstable situation in Haiti; the proposals which have been made to enable the country to make a full return to democracy; and in particular, the role which the United Nations forces might have in this regard. [27125/05]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In the 18 months since former President Bertrand Aristide resigned and left Haiti in February 2004, the political situation in the country has remained volatile and insecure. The transitional government led by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has had very limited success in stabilising the security situation in the country and the Haitian National Police continues to struggle to maintain law and order.

With the help of the international community, the transitional government has been working towards holding free and fair elections. The transitional government intends to conduct the elections in two phases, first holding local elections in November 2005 and subsequently holding parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2005, with a view to having a democratically elected Haitian government in place by February 2006.

United Nations forces are playing a key role in facilitating the elections in Haiti. The United Nations mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, led by Brazil, has been present since July 2004 when it replaced the multi-national interim force led by the United States which had been in the country since the interim government was formed in February 2004. MINUSTAH is working with local authorities to launch civic education programmes to prepare for the elections, and is cooperating in demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration efforts. It is also playing an important role in combating urban armed gangs, which continue to pose a major barrier to security in the slums of Haiti's cities. Disarming urban gangs is of particular importance for the election process, since one of the main obstacles to voter registration has been urban violence, which has deterred potential voters from registering.

Together with other international agencies such as the Organisation of American States, MINUSTAH is now actively combating armed gangs with the aim of establishing a satisfactory security situation by the time elections take place. In June 2005, the Security Council extended the mission in Haiti until February 2006 and approved a temporary increase in the strength of the mission in order to provide increased security in advance of the elections. The Security Council also urged the Haitian authorities to increase and accelerate efforts to prepare for and ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, and called on international donors to provide the necessary resources to support the election process.

The EU is also actively involved in efforts to restore democracy to Haiti. At an EU-Latin American ministerial meeting which I attended in Luxembourg on 27 May 2005, the importance of comprehensive, long-term aid to enable the Haitian people to work towards the establishment of a violence free, inclusive democratic system was acknowledged. The EU pledged €294 million for comprehensive development projects in the country at the Washington donor conference for Haiti which took place in July 2004. Furthermore, the European Commission recently undertook an exploratory mission to Haiti to examine whether an EU election observation mission would be possible. The Europe Aid Co-operation Office is currently seeking nominations for long-term and short-term observers.

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