Gangs in Haiti killed at least 5,600 people last year, according to a new United Nations report. The report from the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights said an additional 3,700 were injured or abducted, leading some to criticize the Biden administration for not doing enough.

“The Biden administration has taken a piecemeal and politicized response to the crisis which focused on preventing it from blowing up ahead of the elections but not resolving it,” Andrés Martínez-Fernández, senior policy analyst for Latin America at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital.

Biden gave $629 million in financial and equipment support to Haiti with $600 million already allocated, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. By comparison, Congress provided Ukraine with more than $113 billion. 

“At the end of the day, it is a similar issue in both Ukraine and Haiti that our involvement does not seem to have a clear strategy underlying it,” Martínez-Fernández added. 

The State Department defended its record and pointed to a joint operation on Dec. 15 by MSS and Haitian police that resulted in the death of a high-profile gang leader. But with violence surging, even the State Department admits that more needs to be done. 

“Current personnel levels are clearly insufficient at restoring the rule of law and security to Haiti,” said the spokesperson, adding, “Given current challenges, however, the United States has backed the Haitian-led call for transitioning the MSS mission to a UNPKO (United Nations Peacekeeping Operation).”

Gang Leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier patrolling the streets with G-9 federation gang members in the Delmas 3 area on Feb. 22, 2024 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

Martínez-Fernández said that is unlikely to happen. “There are significant challenges regarding its feasibility, especially due to the lack of approval in the Security Council. China, in particular, has strongly opposed such efforts and I anticipate they will continue to veto them.”

In the U.N. report, Türk renewed his call for the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions on Haiti and the arms embargo to be fully implemented to stop the flow of weapons into the country. 

“Weapons flowing into Haiti often end up in the hands of the criminal gangs, with tragic results: thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, essential infrastructure and services, such as schools and hospitals, disrupted and destroyed.”