Canada's UN ambassador says gangs now control Haiti. What will the international community do?

Canada's ambassador to the United Nations says the world must act as the situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate, ahead of major meetings of Caribbean nations and partners in Jamaica.

Bob Rae will travel to Kingston to meet with other leaders at a gathering of CARICOM, the Caribbean intergovernmental organization, to discuss the chaos in Haiti. In an interview on on Sunday, he said the situation is extremely serious.

«The country is now effectively run by gangs, and that is something which cannot be allowed to continue,» Rae told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

Haiti is gripped by chaos and disorder, as criminal gangs increasingly assert control over the country. Haiti's acting leader, Ariel Henry, is outside the country and attempting to negotiate a way home, even as the United States calls for him to resign and plan elections for a new government.

On Sunday, the U.S. said it had deployed additional security to its embassy in Port-au-Prince and airlifted some non-essential diplomatic staff out of the country.

The United Nations said in a report published earlier this year that at least 4,789 people were killed in violence in the country in 2023, nearly double the previous year. Gangs have shut down the capital's airport and freed thousands of prisoners in recent days.

A UN-backed deal for a multinational force led by Kenya has languished for months, blocked by internal legal issues. Haiti had requested an international force, as well as economic aid.

Henry originally left the country last week in order to meet with Kenyan leadership and push for the deployment. He has reportedly been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken again pushed on Thursday for Henry to resign,