(Nairobi) The contingent of Kenyan police deployed to Haiti to restore security in the Caribbean country plagued by gang violence has “recorded significant progress”, the Kenyan police announced on Monday, citing in particular the recovery of “essential infrastructure”.
The UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) in Haiti, initially scheduled to last one year (until October 2024), is tasked with supporting the Haitian police in their operations against gangs and crime, ensuring the security of infrastructure, and enabling civilians to access humanitarian aid.
Haiti has long suffered from violence by these armed groups, which control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince and major roads in the country. The violence escalated earlier this year, forcing the disputed Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.
Two months after the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyan police officers, the MMAS has “recorded significant progress” and has notably made it possible to regain “control of essential infrastructure, such as the airport”, from the gangs, according to a press release from the Kenyan police published on X.
The mission, working with Haitian police, also opened “crucial roads that enabled the return of thousands of previously displaced Haitians.”
The Kenyan contingent is made up of police officers from several elite units, including the anti-terrorist squadron Recce Squad which intervened during attacks carried out by radical Somali Islamists Shebab on Kenyan soil (against Garissa University in 2015 and the Westgate and Dusit shopping malls in 2013 and 2019).
PHOTO JEAN FEGUENS REGALA, REUTERS
Kenyan police officers in Port-au-Prince last July
At least 400 Kenyan police officers are deployed in Haiti, on a mission that is expected to involve 1,000.
Several countries are also expected to contribute, such as Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Bahamas and Barbados. It will have a total of 2,500 people.
The United States has not sent troops to Haiti but is contributing to the mission’s deployment with funding and logistical support.
In an article published Monday in the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nationseveral relatives of police officers deployed in Haiti report delays in the payment of salaries.
Haiti has long suffered from violence by armed groups. In recent months, violence in Port-au-Prince has caused a serious humanitarian crisis, with the country home to nearly 600,000 displaced people, according to the UN.
The armed gangs are accused of numerous murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom, a situation that worsened at the beginning of the year, when they decided to join forces to overthrow Ariel Henry.
Transitional authorities were put in place, with the heavy task of restoring security and organizing elections.
The task will be immense, in a country ravaged by violence and corruption, without a president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021.