On Wednesday, Kenyan police officers patrolled the streets of Port-au-Prince, outfitted with body armor and automatic weapons.
This unit, the first U.N.-supported foreign police force in Haiti, arrived in June in response to calls for assistance to curb escalating gang violence.
Criminal gangs currently control about 80% of the capital, displacing over 580,000 people in recent months.
The officers, stationed near the international airport, attracted the attention of onlookers but faced no confrontations with gangs.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Garry Conille expressed gratitude for the Multinational Security Support Mission, highlighting the urgent need to tackle the violence inflicted by armed groups.
“Haiti is currently at a critical point with 12,000 armed individuals holding a population of 12 million hostage,” said Conille.
A contingent of hundreds of Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on June 25 to join the Multinational Security Support Mission, aimed at combating armed criminal gangs and restoring peace in the country.
“The deployment of the first contingent of police officers, working alongside Haitian law enforcement agencies, should help end the barbarity of criminal groups,” said Connille.
They will soon be reinforced by police and military personnel from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica, bringing the total number of personnel to 2,500.
María Isabel Salvador, Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, emphasized the significance of this deployment in line with Security Council Resolution 2699, offering a glimmer of hope for the people of Haiti.
