As the discussion around armed intervention in Haiti continues to grow, Vélina Élysée Charlier, Alexandra Filippova, and Tom Ricker just published a piece on the Six Ways the US and the International Community Can Help Haiti Without Armed Intervention, which covers practical recommendations that Haitian civil society and U.S. based advocates have discussed and proposed multiple times over the past year or more. The message tracks with our previous aid accountability post: With New Global Fragility Act, US Must Avoid Past Mistakes and Let Haitians Control Their Own Democracy.
Read the about the six ways the US can help Haiti without armed intervention!
The six recommendations are as follows:
- The U.S. can step back from its unquestioning support for the de facto government of Ariel Henry.
- An agreement on governance has to be implemented. The international community can help with the democratic transition, but under the direction of a Haitian-led transitional authority, not in place of one.
- Use appropriate legal instruments like the U.S. Magnitsky Act, to impose sanctions on high-profile individuals.
- Support accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
- The U.S. must do more to rein in illegal gun sales to Haiti.
- The U.S. must stop all deportations and expulsions of Haitian migrants.
The authors conclude with the sentiment that if military intervention is taken, it will almost certainly have no impact on the longer-term security situation.