The long-expected international peacekeeping force that promises to help restore order in Haiti has begun to arrive. About 400 police officers from Kenya arrived in the Caribbean nation Tuesday, the first of an expected 2,500 soldiers and law enforcement personnel from eight countries.
Leaders of gangs that have been wreaking havoc in the Caribbean island nation consider the Kenyans invaders and said they will resist them.
Kenya’s President William Ruto prayed with the police officers as they departed.
“You are undertaking a vital mission that transcends borders and cultures,” Ruto told the officers on Monday. “Your presence in Haiti will bring hope and relief to communities torn apart by violence and ravaged by disorder.”
The officers emerged Tuesday from a Kenya Airways flight at Toussaint Louverture International Airport wearing flak jackets and helmets. The airport, which gangs had taken over to prevent Prime Minister Henry from landing after a visit to Kenya earlier this year, has been reopened. Officials cleared homes in the vicinity of the airport in order to keep gangs from hiding there and shooting at aircraft. The New York Times reported that the gangs did not resist that effort.
Funding is a problem
Now, the Multinational Security Support Mission, which will also include personnel from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica, will turn its attention to reopening the main seaport and freeing major highways. That will allow, among other things, a greater flow of humanitarian aid.
Ultimately, the goal of the mission is to help the Haitian police establish enough stability so the transitional government can hold elections for president and National Assembly, The Times said.
While the United States is not contributing manpower, it is making the largest financial commitment to the effort – more than $300 million. But that’s only about half of the $600 million that Kenyan officials estimate the mission will cost. The UN can put forward only $21 million.
However, the U.S. military has flown in more than 2,600 tons of supplies for the mission so far.
A call for help
A year and a half ago, Haitian Prime Minister Henry, who has since resigned, called for help from the international community to combat rising gang control. Since that time, more than 7,500 people have been killed by gang violence, according to the United Nations. That includes 2,500 since January 1. Gangs have killed and kidnapped people and put up roadblocks, extorting money from drivers.
This year, between March and May, about 200,000 people have been forced out of their homes, the UN said.
Haiti has often suffered from instability in the past, but the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moises and the long-standing failure to hold elections left a vacuum that gangs were only too happy to fill.
