Kenya's President William Ruto, center left, visits Kenyan police, part of a UN-backed multinational force, at their base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Photo: AP/Odelyn Joseph.

“Haitian gangs are even better equipped than the Haitian police,” the Chinese delegate said Monday during a Security Council session on Haiti. “The arms embargo has always been perfunctory in its implementation, allowing illegal weapons to flow into Haiti from Florida.”

He called the situation in Haiti “profoundly heartbreaking” and criticized the U.S. for what he described as “economic bullying.” The delegate urged Haiti’s leaders “to move away from the mindset of waiting, relying and requesting” and to prioritize the safety and well-being of its people.

The comments came amid a wide-ranging Security Council meeting on Haiti’s crisis, where the UN’s top envoy warned that the country is “approaching a point of no return.”

“Without timely, decisive and concrete international assistance, the security situation in Haiti may not change,” said María Isabel Salvador, the UN special representative for Haiti. “Haiti could face total chaos.”

Salvador reported that more than 1,086 people were killed and 60,000 displaced in February and March alone, while gangs recently seized Mirebalais in a coordinated attack and freed over 500 prisoners.

Monica Juma, Kenya’s national security adviser, said gangs under the Viv Ansanm coalition are coordinating attacks and expanding territory. She called for the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission to receive more personnel and resources, noting it is operating with less than 40% of the planned 2,500 officers.

“There is no time to waste on political infighting,” said South Korea’s delegate, joining the call for stronger UN action.

The U.S. representative condemned those “who commit abuses of office and work with the gangs,” saying, “An environment permissive to such maligned activities will only continue to fuel the gang violence.”

“America cannot continue to shoulder such a significant financial burden,” the U.S. delegate added, urging more donors to contribute to the Kenya-led mission.

Despite tensions, many member states agreed on one point: the flow of weapons must stop.

France’s delegate, serving as Security Council president for April, said, “This Council must use all levers that it has to combat the gangs and transnational organized crime networks fuelling them.”

Meanwhile, civil society voices like Pascale Solages of NÈGÈS MAWON emphasized the human toll.

“Haiti is much more than a country in crisis,” Solages told the Council. “It is a country in full-blown conflict.”