Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The last contingent of Kenyan police officers serving with the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), tasked with combating the gangs ravaging Haiti, left the country on Monday, police sources said Tuesday.

A ceremony marking the end of this mission, which is to be replaced by the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), was held this weekend in the presence of government officials, reported the source within the Haitian National Police, who requested anonymity.

The FRG, which has been granted a stronger mandate by the UN Security Council than the MMAS, paid tribute to the Kenyans who served in Haiti in a message posted Monday on X.

It thanked them for their “courage and unwavering dedication,” citing conditions “among the most difficult imaginable.” “When Haiti needed support the most, Kenya answered the call,” it added, also praising the “lasting legacy” born of this commitment.

Under-equipped, under-funded, and with only about 1,000 police officers deployed out of the 2,500 hoped for, the mission achieved results that were far from impressive.

The Security Council decided in September to replace it with the FRG, which will be able to field up to 5,500 uniformed personnel, including both police and military personnel, unlike the MMAS

The new force will be deployed “in phases” over the coming months, Special Representative Jack Christofides—appointed by the group of FRG partner countries led by the United States—announced last week before the Security Council.

At this stage, only a contingent of 400 Chadian soldiers has arrived in Port-au-Prince.

Violence perpetrated by gangs and attacks targeting them in Haiti have claimed more than 5,500 lives between March 2025 and mid-January, according to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published in March.

The UN representative in the country, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, nevertheless praised the political progress last week, with the transfer of power in February from the Transitional Presidential Council to the government of Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.

According to the latest report by experts appointed by the Security Council on this issue, law enforcement operations have succeeded in curbing the expansion of gangs in the capital, which they control by 90%.

But “the security situation remains very worrying,” emphasized Carlos Ruiz Massieu, also noting the nearly 1.5 million displaced people.

Humaniterre with AFP