By Evens Sanon, PORT-AU-PRINCE
Haiti
Another 200 police officers from Kenya arrived Tuesday in Haiti for a U.N.-backed mission led by the East African country to battle violent gangs that have taken over parts of the troubled Caribbean country.
The officers arrived nearly a
month after the first contingent of 200 landed in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where
gangs control at least 80% of the city.
Last week the United
Nations Security Council strongly condemned “the extreme levels of
armed violence” in Haiti that are undermining security in the country and the
region.
Authorities have declined to
provide details on the Kenyans’ assignments, citing security concerns.
Associated Press journalists have seen them on
patrol in areas near the main international airport, which reopened in
May after a surge in gang
violence forced it to close for nearly three months.
“We are happy to work
side-by-side with the Kenyans,” Normil Rameau, the
new chief of Haiti’s National Police, said shortly after they arrived. “In
the name of the government, we give them a warm welcome.”
More Kenyans are expected to
arrive in coming weeks and months and will be joined by police and soldiers
from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of
2,500 personnel. They will be deployed in phases at a cost of some $600 million
a year, according to the U.N. Security Council.
The Kenyan-led mission is
meant to bolster Haiti’s National Police, which remains understaffed and
underfunded, with only about 10,000 officers active at a time in a country of
more than 11 million people.
The mission also aims to quell gangs accused of killing more than 4,450 people last year and injuring another 1,668, according to the U.N, more than double compared with the previous year. More than 1,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of this year.
While some Haitians have
welcomed the Kenyans’ arrival, others remain wary.
“The fear of the Haitians is
that this mission, as has occurred in the past … will only achieve a temporary
reduction in violence,” said Diego Da Rin, with the International Crisis Group,
who was recently in Haiti. Da Rin noted that certain politicians and business
owners have long been tied to gangs, and warned the crisis will continue “as
long as the problems of impunity and corruption are not addressed.”
Another concern is that Kenyan
police have faced years of allegations of abuses in their country, including
extrajudicial killings. Their behavior drew renewed scrutiny when they opened
fire on protesters in recent weeks amid ongoing turmoil that has
killed dozens of people.
In addition, a previous
intervention in Haiti — the U.N.’s 2004-2017 peacekeeping mission — was marred
by allegations
of sexual assault and the introduction of cholera,
which killed nearly 10,000 people.
Jean-Marc Etienne, 49, lost
his home a year ago when gangs invaded his neighborhood, forcing him to flee
like many others. He said he hasn’t seen Kenyans on patrol since the first
contingent arrived in June.
“Security has not improved,”
he said as he pushed a wheelbarrow of sugarcane near the airport. “On top of
that, kidnappings have started again.” He and his family have been living in a
friend’s yard under a tarp, exposed to sweltering heat and heavy rains.
Gangs have left more
than half a million Haitian homeless in recent years.
“There’s no action being taken
yet,” said Mario Jean-Baptiste, 39, as he walked past the airport and peered
around, trying to glimpse the Kenyans. “That’s what the Haitian people are
counting on.”
He said Haitians are still
unable to move freely about Port-au-Prince and that many don’t have a place to
sleep or anything to eat: “They’re living like dogs.”
Violence
worsened earlier this year when gangs launched coordinated attacks in
late February. They opened fire on the main international airport, stormed more
than two dozen police stations and broke into Haiti’s two biggest prisons,
releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
The attacks eventually led
to the
resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who had urgently
requested the deployment of foreign forces in late 2022. His resignation in
late April was followed by the appointment of a transitional presidential
council and a
new prime minister, Garry Conille.
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