Months after Kenyan police deployed to Haiti, security in the country has not improved

By Pablo Meriguet
From People’s Dispach

On June 25, hundreds of Kenyan police officers landed in Haiti as part of the United Nations’ Multinational Security Support Mission. Thousands of other members of security forces are expected to be deployed to the Caribbean nation from other parts of the world such as Chad, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, and Belize, with the stated mission to regain control over Haitian territory, much of which is currently under the control of local gangs and armed groups.

The military intervention project is fundamentally sponsored by the United States government, which has pledged USD 380 million, although the initiative also receives monetary support from Canada, France, and Spain. This funding strategy has raised criticism that this operation is in reality another territorial invasion of Haiti, but with international security forces responding to US geopolitical interests. Moreover, some experts claim that this is a form of mercenarism, in which “first world” countries pay for invasions while the boots on the ground come from “third world” armies.

Since its inception, the mission has been widely repudiated by Haitian civil society as well as by progressive and left groups in Haiti and across the world, precisely for being another military invasion of the country and ignoring the political solutions that the Haitian people have proposed to end the ongoing political, economic, and security crisis.

Two months since the first troop deployment, this international mission has come under further criticism and scrutiny given the failure to achieve the stated goals and delayed payments to Kenyan forces.

Western-backed leaders responsible for current crisis

The security situation in Haiti rapidly deteriorated following the assassination of former Prime Minister Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. In the wake of the assassination, Ariel Henry was appointed interim prime minister of the country with the full backing of western countries and with the promise that he would hold free and fair elections.

At the time of his assassination, Moïse was already facing mass popular protests due to him violating his constitutional term limit by five months and subverting democratic institutions. Tens of thousands had been mobilizing in the streets to demand his resignation and a people-driven solution and path to restoring democratic order in the country.

During his nearly three years as de facto leader of Haiti, Henry did not make good on his promises to the people, failing to hold fresh elections and to improve the security situation in the country where the numbers of assassinations, kidnappings, and internal displacements were growing by the day due to gang violence.

Unwilling to address the root problems of the socioeconomic and security crisis, Henry instead in October 2022, appealed to the United Nations for a “specialized armed force” to be deployed to the country. In October 2023, the UN Security Council authorized the “Multinational Security Support” (MSS) to Haiti, with notable abstentions from Russia and China.

Haiti is still plagued by violence

In Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, it is estimated that today, gangs control 85% of the territory. The ongoing violence and threats from armed groups has forced more than 600,000 Haitians to flee their homes. 50% of these internally displaced people are children, i.e. 300,000, which represents a 60% increase from March, according to UNICEF. According to the UN Agency, these displaced children are subjected to poor hygiene conditions in camps and makeshift settlements which puts them at increased risk of disease, including cholera. Many have also been forced to stop school due to economic conditions and school closures.

In addition to deteriorating conditions, several high profile killings have taken place.

The murders of two missionaries from the US, Natalie Lloyd, the daughter of Missouri state congressman Ben Baker, and Davy Lloyd, as well as Jude Montis, director of the NGO, Missions in Haiti Inc. on May 23 in Haiti’s capital sent shock waves within Haiti and internationally.

In August, twelve inmates were killed amid a mass jailbreak, the third of its kind in recent months. The prison located in the city of Saint-Marc was practically destroyed after the riot. The prison archive and all other rooms except for the inmates’ were burned. At the beginning of March, several gangs managed to escape from the prisons of the National Penitentiary, the Port-au-Prince Center, and Croix-des-Bouquets. This escape caused the then Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was out of the country negotiating the arrival of Kenyan police officers in Haiti, to resign from his post.

A recent BBC article reported that many Haitians are feeling disappointed and frustrated with the Kenyan intervention and that concrete results cannot be seen to date. Some people affirmed to the BBC that after the arrival of the foreign police, the gangs have reinforced their control over the southwest and northeast of the Haitian capital.

Despite this, Rameau Normil (Haitian police chief) and Godfrey Otunge (Kenyan force commander) said that more than 100 gang members had been killed in joint police operations between the two countries. However, the leaders of the major gangs continue to post several videos on X making harsh statements against the foreign forces and mocking the security operations, which has generated some distrust from several Haitians regarding the Kenyan mission.

Kenyan police are not getting paid what they were promised

On August 25, several Kenyan police officers reported two-month delays in payments they were promised. While police officers continue to receive their salaries, they are owed a supplementary fee for their duties in the Multinational Security Mission in Haiti. Several police officers told CNN that they are concerned and frustrated by the lack of supplemental payments. According to what they were told, the money had already been sent to Kenya, although they had not seen a single dollar of those payments in their accounts. Acting Prime Minister Garry Conille said in an interview with CNN that not enough money is arriving to sustain the military intervention project in the country and what has come, is not arriving fast enough.

Although not paid as promised, Kenyan police are still attempting to reclaim gang-controlled territory through the lethal use of force. A few weeks ago, they attempted to reclaim one of the country’s largest hospitals, which was in the hands of gangs. The interview of Prime Minister Garry Conille mentioned above, took place precisely in the hospital recovered by Haitian and Kenyan police forces, while he was making several statements, gunshots could be heard and the authorities and journalists were ordered to evacuate the hospital. The event is more than anecdotal, as it shows how delicate the security situation is despite the foreign military intervention.

The Haitian people continue to demand an end to the foreign military intervention and a return to peace in the country.