The first contingent of UN-backed foreign police arrives In Haiti The incident on Tuesday occurred nearly two years after the restive Caribbean nation requested urgent aid to curb a surge in gang violence.
Two hundred police officers arrived here from Kenya. The capital of Port-au-PrinceIts main international airport reopened in late May after being closed for nearly three months due to gang violence.
Kenyan police leave for Haiti to tackle rampant gang violence
It is not yet known what the Kenyans’ first task will be, but they will have to confront violent gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital and have displaced more than 580,000 people across the country as they loot neighbourhoods in an attempt to take over more territory. The gangs have also killed several thousand people in recent years.
The arrival of the Kenyans marks the fourth major foreign military intervention in Haiti. While some Haitians welcome them, others view the military with wariness, noting that the previous intervention – the UN’s 2004-2017 peacekeeping mission – was marred by allegations of sexual abuse and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people.
Kenyan police stand on the tarmac of Toussaint Louverture International Airport after landing in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The first contingent of UN-backed foreign police arrived nearly two years after the Caribbean country requested help to curb a surge in gang violence. (AP Photo/Markinson Pierre)
Romain Le Cour, senior expert at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, urged the international community and government authorities to share details of the mission, including its rules and operational concept.
“What’s going to happen with gangs,” he said. “Is this a static mission? Is this a moving mission? All of those details are still missing, and I think it’s time to really have that transparency.”
Hours after the Kenyans arrived in Haiti, Prime Minister Garry Konile thanked the East African country for its solidarity and said gangs had vandalised homes and hospitals and set libraries on fire, making Haiti “unlivable.”
“The country is going through a very difficult time,” he said at a news conference. “Enough is enough. … We will begin to work slowly to take control of the country again.”
Konile said the Kenyans would be deployed in the next few days but did not give details. He was accompanied by former Kenyan foreign minister Monica Juma, who now serves as President William Ruto’s national security adviser. She said the Kenyans would serve as “representatives of peace, stability and hope.”
“We are united in our commitment to support the Haitian National Police to restore public order and security,” he said. “We hope this does not become a permanent mission.”
The deployment comes nearly four months after the gangs launched coordinated attacks that targeted key government infrastructure in Haiti’s capital and beyond. They seized more than two dozen police stations, opened fire at the main international airport and stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
“We have been asking for protection for a long time,” said Orgline Boucicaut, 47, a mother of two and a wholesale distributor of carrots and charcoal.
Her sales have been disrupted by gang violence, and she tries to stay out as long as possible before sunset to recoup the losses, despite her fear.
“You never know who’s waiting for you,” he said, adding that he hoped Kenyan police would work closely with local authorities.
Critics say the gang attacks that began on Feb. 29 could have been prevented if the foreign force had been deployed sooner, but a number of obstacles – including a legal challenge filed in Kenya and political turmoil in Haiti – delayed its arrival.
Attacks prevented The then Prime Minister Ariel Henniwho was in Kenya at the time to press for the deployment, was prevented from returning to Haiti. He resigned in late April as violence escalated. Subsequently, the nine-member Transitional Presidential Council chose former UN official Konile as prime minister and appointed a new cabinet in mid-June.
Still, gang violence persists, and experts say it will continue until the government addresses the socioeconomic factors that fuel the existence of gangs in an extremely poor country where the police department is understaffed and under-resourced.
Le Court said it’s difficult to predict the gangs’ response to the mission. “Some of them might fight. Some of them might want to start dialogue and negotiations with the Haitian government,” he said.
In a recent video, Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer who now leads a powerful gang association called the G9 Family and Allies, addressed the new prime minister for the first time.
“Don’t play into the hands of traditional politicians and businessmen who have used violence for political and economic purposes,” said Cherizier, popularly known as Barbecue. “The problem we have today can only be solved through dialogue.”
When asked about the barbecue comments Tuesday, Connally offered his own message: “Put the guns down and accept state authority, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”
The U.N. Security Council authorized Kenya to lead a multinational police mission in October 2023, a year after Henry first requested urgent assistance.
President Joe Biden praised the arrival of the first troops, saying overall the mission would “bring much-needed relief.”
“The people of Haiti deserve to feel safe in their homes, to provide a better life for their families, and to enjoy democratic freedoms,” he said. “While these goals cannot be accomplished overnight, this mission provides the best chance to achieve them.”
Rights groups and others have questioned the use of Kenyan police, pointing to years of allegations of abuses by officers, including extrajudicial killings. On Tuesday, police were again accused of opening fire in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where thousands of protesters stormed parliament.
Joining the Kenyan police in Haiti will be police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica, totalling 2,500 officers. They will be deployed in a phased manner, at a cost of about $600 million a year, according to the UN Security Council.
So far, the UN-administered fund for the mission has received only $18 million in contributions from Canada, France and the United States. The US has also pledged a total of $300 million in aid.
“Although gang violence has declined from its peak earlier this year, the security situation in the country remains grave,” the U.N. Security Council said in a June 21 statement.
More than 2,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of this year, an increase of more than 50% compared to the same period last year.
Many Haitians live in fear, including Jeannette Ovil, 54, a mother of two university-age boys. She sells crops such as bananas and green peppers, and has been robbed several times by gangs when she travels on public buses with her belongings. She said she keeps money under her armpit or in her underwear for safekeeping.
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“I need security. I need to work. I need the roads to be open so I can feed my family,” she said. “Being a female entrepreneur in Haiti is never easy. There’s a lot of risk. But we take the risk to make sure our families are well.”
An estimated 1.6 million Haitians are on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations, the largest number recorded since the devastating 2010 earthquake.
