(Port-Au-Prince) The first contingent of U.N.-backed foreign police arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, nearly two years after the embattled West Indian country urgently requested help to quell a surge in criminal gang violence.
A few hundred Kenyan police officers landed in the capital, Port-au-Prince, whose main international airport reopened in late May after gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.
It was not yet clear what the Kenyans’ first mission would be, but they will face violent gangs that control 80 percent of the Haitian capital and have left more than 580,000 people homeless across the country as they loot the neighborhoods in their quest to control more territory. 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 their arrival, others view the force with caution, given that the previous intervention – the UN peacekeeping mission from 2004 to 2017 – was marred by allegations of aggression sexual violence and the introduction of cholera, which caused nearly 10,000 deaths.
Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, called on the international community and government officials to share details of the mission, including its rules of engagement and concept of operation.
“What’s going to happen with the gangs?” he asked. “Is this a static mission? Is this a moving mission? All of those details are still missing, and I think it’s time for some real transparency.”
Hours after the Kenyans landed, Prime Minister Garry Conille thanked the East African country for its solidarity, noting that gangs had vandalized homes and hospitals and burned libraries, making Haiti “unlivable.” .
“The country is going through very difficult times,” he said at a press conference. Enough is enough […] We will begin to work little by little on the reconquest of the country. »
Mr. Conille said the Kenyans would be deployed in the coming days, but he did not provide details. He was accompanied by Monica Juma, former Kenyan foreign minister, now national security adviser to President William Ruto. She said Kenyans “will serve as agents of peace, stability and hope.”
“We are united in our commitment to supporting the Haitian National Police to restore public order and security,” she said. We hope this does not become a permanent mission. »
At the same time, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti issued a brief statement welcoming the arrival of the first contingent of Kenyans.
“This is a crucial step in the fight to restore security in the Haitian capital and its surrounding areas, and protect the rights of Haitians.”
The Kenyans’ deployment comes nearly four months after criminal gangs launched coordinated attacks targeting key government infrastructure in the Haitian capital and beyond. They took control of more than two dozen police stations, fired on the main international airport and stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
“We have been asking for security for a very long time,” said Orgline Bossicot, a 47-year-old mother of two who sells carrots and charcoal as a wholesaler.
Gang violence has thwarted her sales and despite the fear, she tries to stay out as late as possible before sunset to make up for the losses.
“You never know who’s waiting for you around the corner. We’re a target,” she said, adding that she hopes Kenyan police will join forces with local authorities. “That would be a big step forward for me, for Haiti and for a lot of people.”
Delayed deployment
Critics say the coordinated gang attacks that began Feb. 29 could have been avoided if the foreign force had been deployed sooner, but multiple setbacks, including a legal challenge filed in Kenya and political upheaval in Haiti, have delayed His arrival.
The coordinated attacks achieved their goal: preventing then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to Haiti. At the time, he was in Kenya to lobby for the deployment of force, but resigned in late April due to a surge in gang violence.
Since then, a nine-member transitional presidential council has been formed. It chose former UN official Garry Conille as prime minister on May 28 and named a new government in mid-June.
Despite new leaders, gang violence has persisted, and experts say it will continue unless the government also addresses the socio-economic factors that fuel the existence of gangs in a deeply poor country, with a police service seriously suffering from understaffing and lack of resources.
Mr. Le Cour Grandmaison believes the gangs’ reaction to the mission is difficult to predict. “Some of them might put up a fight.” Some of them might want to negotiate and open a dialogue with the Haitian government,” he explained.
In a recent video, Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer who now leads a powerful gang federation known as “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 ends,” said Mr. Chérizier, better known as Barbecue. “The problem that exists today can only be resolved through dialogue. »
Asked about Barbecue’s comments on Tuesday, Mr. Conille responded with his own message: “Lay down your arms and recognize state authority, and then we’ll see where we go from there.” »
The UN Security Council authorized Kenya to lead the multinational police mission in October 2023, a year after Mr Henry first requested immediate assistance.
The Kenyans will be joined by police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica, for a total of 2,500 officers who will be deployed in stages, at an annual cost of some US$600 million (nearly CAN$820 million), according to the UN Security Council.
So far, the UN-administered fund for the mission has only received 18 million (CAN 24.6 million) in contributions from Canada, France and the United States. The United States also pledged a total of 300 million (CAN 410 million) in support.
An estimated 1.6 million Haitians are on the brink of famine, the highest number recorded since the devastating 2010 earthquake, according to the UN.