The first U.N.-supported contingent of foreign police touched down in Haiti on Tuesday, almost two years after the Caribbean nation urgently sought assistance to address escalating gang violence.
A few hundred police officers from Kenya arrived in Port-au-Prince, which recently reopened its main international airport after gang-related disruptions kept it closed for nearly three months.
- Advertisement -
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti released a brief statement welcoming the Kenyan officers: “This marks a crucial step in restoring security in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings, and in protecting the rights of Haitians.”
The specific duties awaiting the Kenyan officers were not immediately disclosed, but they are expected to confront violent gangs that dominate 80% of Haiti’s capital, displacing more than 580,000 people nationwide as they ransack neighborhoods to expand their control. The gangs have also been responsible for thousands of deaths in recent years.
This deployment marks the fourth significant foreign military intervention in Haiti. While some locals are hopeful, others remain wary, recalling the U.N.’s previous peacekeeping mission from 2004 to 2017, which was tainted by allegations of sexual assault and a cholera outbreak that claimed nearly 10,000 lives.
Romain Le Cour, a senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, urged for transparency from international and government officials regarding the mission’s rules of engagement and operational strategy. “We need clarity on the mission’s approach to dealing with the gangs. Will it be a stationary mission or a mobile one? It’s crucial to have these details,” he emphasized
The Kenyans’ arrival comes nearly four months after gangs orchestrated attacks on key government infrastructure in Haiti’s capital and beyond, including seizing more than two dozen police stations, firing on the main international airport, and storming the country’s two largest prisons, releasing over 4,000 inmates.
