Wednesday June 26, 2024

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

After months of waiting, a first contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in Port-au-Prince yesterday, Tuesday June 25, as part of an international mission to restore security in Haiti, a deployment billed as “a unique opportunity” for this country ravaged by gang violence.

A plane belonging to the national airline Kenya Airways landed shortly before 14:00 GMT at the Haitian capital’s Toussaint Louverture airport, carrying a first contingent of 200 armed, helmeted police officers dressed in military fatigues, according to an AFP correspondent on the ground.

A second contingent of police officers is expected on Thursday, a Haitian government source said.

“This is a unique opportunity” to restore security in the country, hailed Haiti’s interim Prime Minister, Garry Conille, on Tuesday.

The aircraft had taken off on Monday evening from Nairobi after Kenyan President William Ruto had visited the police officers before their departure.

“This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity,” the Haitian leader said earlier at a closed-door ceremony, according to remarks reported by the presidential office.

Kenya has offered to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti as part of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), initially scheduled to last one year, and to which Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, the Bahamas and Barbados are also expected to contribute.

– Dantean mission –

The deployment of this force, which will be around 2,500-strong, was approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October, but is drawing fierce criticism in Kenya.

An anti-government protest movement turned chaotic on Tuesday in its capital Nairobi. At least five people were killed and 31 injured during the protests, according to several NGOs including Amnesty Kenya, and the government announced that it was deploying the army.

The arrival of Kenyan police officers “will bring much-needed relief to the people of Haiti”, said Joe Biden in a statement on Tuesday.

The American president said he was “very grateful to all the countries that have pledged their support in the form of personnel and financial resources to this mission”, and recalled that the United States, failing to send police or military personnel, was the leading contributor, with “more than $300 million” in funds and “up to $60 million in equipment.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for this momentum to be maintained “to ensure that the mission receives the financial support it needs to carry out its mandate”, according to his spokesman.

The task facing the security mission in Haiti promises to be a daunting one.

Haiti has suffered from decades of chronic political instability and is facing a resurgence of gang violence, which controls 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, coupled with a humanitarian crisis.

– 600,000 displaced –

The situation worsened abruptly at the end of February, when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince to overthrow the then Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.

Since then, transitional authorities, including interim Prime Minister Garry Conille, have been formed with the task of restoring stability.

The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen by 60% since March due to the intensification of gang violence, and now totals almost 600,000, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The UN-backed mission is to support the Haitian police in the fight against the gangs that are terrorizing the population.

“I salute the determination of the Kenyan government and its people to accompany Haiti in the fight against the insecurity that is eating away at its society”, said Prime Minister Garry Conille on the X network.

Haiti “hopes that this multinational mission will be the last to help stabilize the country so that it can renew its political personnel and return to effective democracy”, he added.

The restoration of security in this Caribbean country should ultimately enable elections to be held. The last one was held in 2016.

Humaniterre with AFP