Security Council renews Haiti sanctions for one year

The United Nations Security Council renewed its existing sanctions on Haiti for one year on 14 October 2026, voting 14 in favour and none against, with Russia abstaining. The resolution also extended the Panel of Experts’ mandate for 13 months and directed the sanctions committee to consider an expedited update to its list of designated people and entities.

The Council adopted Resolution 2831 at its 10,241st meeting in New York. The measures, first established by Resolution 2653 in 2022 and previously extended in 2025, include a travel ban, an asset freeze and an arms embargo. They remain in force for one year from the adoption date. The resolution does not name new designees, so it does not itself impose restrictions on additional named people or organizations.

List update and possible grounds for designation

The resolution directs the committee to consider expeditiously updating its list, including by adding people or entities acting in violation of the arms embargo. This is an instruction to consider an update, not a decision adding names. People and entities already designated remain subject to the applicable travel and financial measures.

The text expresses concern about reports of misappropriation, embezzlement and diversion of public resources that pose risks to Haiti’s peace, security and stability. It also says people engaging in or supporting specified criminal activities and violence involving armed groups and criminal networks may be listed for travel and financial measures. Illicit exploitation or trade of natural resources that destabilizes Haiti is identified as another potential basis for those measures.

Russia’s representative said the public-resources language could create a new criterion for sanctions listings and risk external interference in Haiti’s political process. Russia cited those concerns in explaining its abstention; that was its stated interpretation of the language. The UK voted in favour and described the sanctions regime and arms embargo as important tools for addressing insecurity in Haiti.

Weapons controls and 2027 deadlines

The resolution calls for stronger border controls and safer management of arms transferred to Haitian authorities, including controls after delivery. It calls on Haitian authorities to improve the management of seized weapons and ammunition. The resolution calls upon the Gang Suppression Force to report weapons diversion, including loss and theft, to the Panel of Experts.

It also encourages Haitian authorities to adopt a decree regulating the exploitation of elvers and related trade. The resolution identifies illicit exploitation or trade of natural resources as activity that can destabilize Haiti; the decree is encouraged, not imposed by the Council.

For a possible future review of the measures, the resolution sets benchmarks covering Haitian judicial and rule-of-law capacity, reductions in specified gang violence, and reductions in arms trafficking, diversion and related illicit financial flows. The October vote renewed the measures; it did not decide whether they should later be strengthened, modified, suspended or lifted.

The Panel of Experts must submit an interim report by 28 March 2027 and a final report by 1 September 2027. The Secretary-General is also asked to assess progress against the benchmarks by 1 September 2027. The resolution sets no date for a subsequent Security Council vote.