The UN-backed Gang Suppression Force began operations in Haiti on 1 June 2026. It is meant to be a tougher successor to the Kenyan-led mission that wound down earlier this year. On paper it is authorised for up to 5,500 police and military personnel under a 12-month mandate, with the power to conduct intelligence-led operations, arrest gang members and recover weapons.
The reality on the ground is thinner. Open-source reporting in late May put actual strength at a few hundred deployed personnel. Chad had around 400 officers in country against a pledge of 1,500, with further contingents pledged by Bangladesh, Guatemala, Mongolia and others. Full strength is not expected before the end of the year.
The threat picture has not eased while the force builds. Armed gangs still control most of Port-au-Prince. Open-source figures cite over 1.4 million people displaced and a sharp rise in gang-related killings, including deaths from drone strikes in residential areas. Kidnapping, sexual violence and armed roadblocks remain routine.
For operators, the arrival of the GSF does not change the risk calculation in the near term. The force is under-strength, its writ does not yet extend across the capital, and any anti-gang operations it does mount may trigger retaliatory violence in the surrounding areas. The international airport and main routes in and out of the capital remain exposed.
Haiti stays a no-go for routine business or movement. Any task that genuinely cannot be avoided needs armed local protection, hardened transport, a vetted ground network and a worked-out emergency extraction plan that does not rely on the GSF or local police. Assume kidnap risk on every leg.
