Kenyan forces arrive in Haiti for UN-backed security mission

By James Blears

The incoming Police have Kenyan arm patches denoting their nationality plus authority and are heavily armed. Yet, they are also heavily outnumbered by a ferocious coalition/alliance of street gangs which control most of the Capital Port Au Prince and large swathes of the Western Hemisphere`s poorest nation. They arrived earlier this week at the international airport, which only re-opened in May, after being closed for three months, following a major organized crime offensive, during which the airport was under siege, two dozen police stations overrun and the two main prisons stormed, with more than four thousand inmates set loose and still at large.

Enough is enough

Haiti`s Prime Minister, Garry Conille, accompanied by Kenya`s Security Minister, Monica Juma, says: ''Haiti is going through difficult times. Enough is enough. We are going to start working little by little to re-take the country.'' With such a small contingent it's likely that the Kenyan Police will bolster and reinforce government installations and key areas including the port in the capital which has been frequently targeted and forced to shut down by the gangs. More Police from Jamaica, Barbados, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Benin and Chad will be joining them...but exactly when? France, Canada and the United States have pledged millions of dollars in support but no boots on the ground. 

Situation out of control

The situation spiralled out of control, following the assassination of President Jouvenel Moise on July 7th, 2021, by Colombian mercenaries. Since then the gangs have rampaged with impunity.  This is the fourth International intervention in Haiti. A UN peacekeeping force which was in Haiti from 2004-2017 held together a fragile equilibrium, but by accident, they introduced cholera and an epidemic killed ten thousand Haitians. This new and smaller policing force will try to help existing authorities pull the country back from the brink of chaos and pandemonium. So few, against so many.