Kenya and Haiti--July 17, 2024
three articles
Foreign Police Officers Land on the Ground in Haiti
The arrival of 400 Kenyan officers came on a day of deadly violence in Kenya. The international force was sent to try to restore order in the gang-plagued Caribbean nation.
A photo released by the Kenyan presidential office shows deploying police officers praying with President William Ruto on Monday in Nairobi.Credit...Rebecca Nduku/Presidential Communication Service
By Frances Robles and Abdi Latif Dahir
Frances Robles reported from New York, and Abdi Latif Dahir from Nairobi, Kenya.
June 25, 2024
Foreign law enforcement officers began arriving in Haiti on Tuesday, more than a year and a half after the prime minister there issued a plea to other countries for help to stop the rampant gang violence that has upended the Caribbean nation.
Dozens of armed men in military fatigues filed out of a Kenya Airways plane at Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The officers are part of a deployment of officers from eight nations who will fan out across the capital to try to wrest control of the city from dozens of armed groups that have attacked police stations, freed prisoners and killed with impunity.
The arrival of an initial group of 400 Kenyan officers came on a day of intense and deadly violence in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as the police clashed with demonstrators protesting a tax bill that would increase taxes on many basics.
Some security experts say the Kenyan officers face a significant challenge supporting Haiti’s police and facing off with well-armed and highly organized Haitian gangs that have seized control of much of Port-au-Prince and had vowed to fight the Kenyans.
Kenya’s police also have a checkered history back home, accused by human rights groups of killing and abusing civilians, raising concerns about their actions in Haiti.
Since Haiti’s appeal for international help went out in October 2022, more than 7,500 people have been killed by violence — over 2,500 people so far this year alone, the United Nations said.
With a weakened national government and the Haitian presidency vacant, dozens of gangs have put up roadblocks, kidnapped and killed civilians, and attacked entire neighborhoods. About 200,000 people were forced from their homes between March and May, according to the United Nations.
The Kenyans in Haiti are the first to deploy of an expected 2,500-member force, an effort largely organized by the Biden administration.
“You are undertaking a vital mission that transcends borders and cultures,” President William Ruto of Kenya told the officers on Monday before they left.
President Biden on Tuesday welcomed the deployment.
“Haiti’s future depends on the return to democratic governance,’’ he said in a statement. “While these goals may not be accomplished overnight, this mission provides the best chance of achieving them.”
The officers are expected to tackle a long list of priorities, including retaking control of the country’s main port and freeing major highways from criminal groups that demand money from drivers.
“Gang checkpoints on these roads are also a major source of their income,” said William O’Neill, the U.N.’s human rights expert on Haiti.
“While much delayed, the arrival of the Kenyans comes at a good time,” particularly since a new police chief and prime minister have been named in recent weeks, he said.
The United States has provided many of the mission’s supplies, rushing to find armored vehicles and other equipment.
“The Kenyans do not want to be one of these missions that show up on the ground and, for a month, they never leave their base,” Dennis B. Hankins, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, said in an interview.
The Kenyans, he added, will need to “support” the Haitian police, but not replace them, so that when the mission ends their departure doesn’t create “a security vacuum.”
Officially called the Multinational Security Support Mission, the deployment is expected to last at least a year, according to the U.S. government. Sanctioned by the U.N. and mostly financed by the United States, its goal is to support the Haitian police and establish enough stability so the transitional government can set up elections to choose a new president, as well as members of Parliament.
The U.S. military has flown more than 90 flights into Haiti ahead of the mission, carrying more than 2,600 tons of supplies. Civilian contractors have been building sleeping quarters for the Kenyan officers at the Port-au-Prince airport.
In May, Haitian government officials began clearing the airport perimeter of hundreds of houses, which had made it easier for gangs to hide and fire at aircraft, forcing the airfield to close. The airport has reopened to commercial flights.
The gangs, the ambassador added, did not fight back while preparations at the airport were made, a sign that perhaps they may not be willing to engage in direct combat with specialized forces, he said.
“As soon as we got the airport open and functional and we started seeing military flights, that had a real significant psychological impact on the population,” Mr. Hankins said.
Many experts say that beyond security Haiti needs a comprehensive plan to address the root causes of its governance problems.
After Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign in late April, it took several weeks for political parties to agree on who would serve on a new transitional presidential council.
It was a full month before a replacement for Mr. Henry took office.
Garry Conille, a former U.N. official, accepted the post in late May.
During a news conference on Tuesday, where he was joined by Kenya’s foreign minister, Monica Juma, Mr. Conille directed comments to gang leaders who have wreaked havoc on Haiti.
“You are also tired of this situation, even when it is you who created it,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
So far, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, Jamaica and Kenya have officially offered personnel for the mission.
But the mission has not received much financial commitment.
While Kenyan officials estimate the cost will run up to $600 million, a U.N. fund to pay for it has only $21 million. The United States has pledged more than $300 million to finance the mission.
The United States, Canada and France — Haiti’s biggest benefactors and allies — were unwilling to send troops of their own to Haiti.
Kenya was the first nation to publicly offer to do so. Many experts believed the mission would be more welcomed if was led by an African nation.
Experts say that Mr. Ruto, who won the presidency in 2022 after a closely contested election, was using the deployment to further boost his profile on the global stage.
The deployment comes even as Mr. Ruto faces widespread protests nationwide against a finance bill that critics say will increase the already high cost of living.
On Tuesday, the police fired tear gas and shots were heard as thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets around Kenya’s Parliament in Nairobi. Human rights advocates said that at least five people were killed and over 30 others wounded.
At a police camp in Nairobi, officers have undergone physical and weapons training and received new helmets and body armor, according to interviews with officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly to reporters.
They have also taken intensive French and Creole courses.
Beyond protecting key infrastructure, the officers at some point will be expected to secure the presidential palace, which remains in shambles after a 2010 earthquake but continues to be a symbolic place of power in Haiti.
But the contingent of 400 that arrived Tuesday is just a small step toward a large operation that will require many more people and resources to be effective, said Gédéon Jean, the executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights, a Haitian organization that was forced to suspend its operations because of rising violence.
“So much remains to be done,” Mr. Jean said.
The initial group is likely to “play it safe” at the start, but even as more officers arrive from other countries, their task will be daunting, particularly since they have not worked together before, do not speak the same languages or have a shared “operational framework,” said Sophie Rutenbar, a visiting scholar at the New York University Center on International Cooperation who has worked in Haiti.
“The early deployment of this force is going to be very vulnerable,” Ms. Rutenbar said.
Eugene Chen, a former U.N. official who follows Haiti closely, said the international mission seemed to emerge out of a desperation to do something. Without finding ways to support Haiti’s political process, the mission could exacerbate the violence, Mr. Chen said.
“It’s not clear,” Mr. Chen added, “that this is the right answer.”
Andre Paultre contributed reporting from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and David C. Adams from Miami.
Frances Robles is a Times investigative reporter covering the United States and Latin America. She has been a journalist for more than 30 years. More about Frances Robles
Abdi Latif Dahir is the East Africa correspondent for The Times, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He covers a broad range of issues including geopolitics, business, society and arts. More about Abdi Latif Dahir
Kenyan police begin patrols, but Haiti’s gangs are unperturbed
Haitians are growing frustrated at the lack of action or an apparent plan to take on the heavily armed criminals.
and
July 11, 2024
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — For Irvika François, navigating life in this gang-plagued city requires a series of precautions. The Haitian educator and feminist has moved her family. She never travels more than a mile from home.
Several hundred Kenyan police officers have deployed to this Caribbean nation, the first members of a U.N.-backed security mission to beat back the heavily armed paramilitaries that control 80 percent of the capital, allow new elections and give Haitians like François a chance to breathe.
The Kenyans, better armed and equipped than Haitian police, have joined their hosts on street patrols. The gangs, who warned they would resist the deployment, appear unperturbed. They’re still setting homes ablaze, attacking police stations and killing with impunity.
“I don’t feel the effect of the Kenyans’ presence,” François, whose cousin was kidnapped by a gang last year, said. “Nothing has changed in my life, and I don’t have increased confidence in my security. … I don’t understand why the Kenyans are here.”
It’s been nearly two years since former prime minister Ariel Henry first called for an international security force to help restore stability to this beleaguered Caribbean nation. During the long wait, gangs tightened their grip on the capital, busting open prisons, shutting down seaports, taking over fuel terminals and the international airport.
Now, less than three weeks after the first officers arrived, frustration is growing. Haitians say the deployment has had no discernible effect on security. Police officers say they haven’t been looped into a plan to restore order.
“Haitians have high expectations of the foreign force,” said Diego Da Rin, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. “They say that if … the mission doesn’t start conducting operations soon that lead to tangible changes and victories against the gangs, they might start to frown upon [its] presence.”
Officials from Haiti, Kenya and the United States, which says it won’t send troops but is by far the mission’s largest financial backer, counter that it’s proceeding as it should.
Normil Rameau, the new head of the Haitian National Police, told reporters this week that he’s met with his Kenyan counterparts several times for “evaluation and planning.”
“There is neither a set day nor time for operations,” Rameau said. “The population may wake up one day to find that operations have taken place and bandits have been stopped or neutralized. For strategic reasons, we cannot reveal how this will happen.”
A Kenyan police officer here said the force is waiting for more equipment to arrive before beginning operations. He did not know when that would be.
“We’re ready,” said the officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “We have more training than the gangs. We have the capacity to kick them out. We’re going to attack the gangs where they are hidden.”
Gangs killed at least 3,250 people in Haiti from January to May, the U.N. office here reports, up more than 30 percent from the previous five months. U.N. officials say gangs are reportedly paying people to stay in their communities so they can serve as human shields during police operations.
They say they have received reports of gangs trying to recruit children ahead of the foreigners’ arrival, allegedly “to leverage potential incidents against children involving mission personnel in order to undermine the presence of those personnel in Haiti.”
Haiti has had a long and difficult history of international interventions. The United States invaded in 1915 and occupied the nation for 19 years, establishing a system of forced labor, training the notoriously abusive gendarmerie and executing dissidents.
Most recently, a U.N. peacekeeping mission from 2004 to 2017 was marred by allegations of abuse and blamed for a cholera outbreak that killed more than 10,000 people. Haitians said the troops did little to maintain security; they branded them “turistas.”
The United States backed Henry’s October 2022 call for international help but had difficulty finding a country to lead it. The U.N. Security Council greenlit the mission last October, but planning, staffing and funding have been slow.
The mission could grow to roughly 2,500 members. Several countries from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia have pledged personnel, but it is unclear when they will send them to Haiti.
Kenyan officials have said the mission needs around $600 million, but international donors have contributed just $21 million. The U.N. office here said last month that the mission would be unable to complete a 12-month deployment without more money.
Haitian police are to lead operations against gangs with mission personnel providing support, officials have said. But several Haitian police officers said they remain confused about how that will work.
The officers, who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the Kenyans are better armed and receiving a much higher salary while the Haitians are expected to shoulder most of the risk.
“We are going to be at the forefront, but with what weapons?” one Haitian police officer said. “Who will give the orders? How can we defend ourselves? We don’t know anything.”
“The Kenyans shouldn’t be patrolling the streets,” said another. “They should be attacking the gangs. They have the resources we lack, including firepower.”
Stanley Julien is among the several hundred thousand people who have fled their homes to escape the violence. He used to sell drinks near Haiti’s National Penitentiary but is now sheltering in a school. He hopes the police mission “will bring security and order.”
“I can’t say much about the Kenyans yet,” he said. “They haven’t taken any bold actions so far. The armed groups think it’s just a bluff.”
Meïka Decime, an economics student at the University of Port-au-Prince, runs a small business selling cocktails in the capital. But the security crisis makes it hard to deliver to many neighborhoods, she said, and sales have dropped 40 percent since December. Many of her teachers, meanwhile, have fled, and her classes have been canceled.
She’s withholding judgment on the international force, she said, while giving it “space and time” to do its work. She hopes it will foster long-lasting stability.
“I love my country and don’t want to leave,” Decime said. “I can’t imagine spending my life outside of Haiti.”
More Kenyan police arrive in Haiti with UN-backed mission to fight violent gangs
EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO
Updated Tue, July 16, 2024
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Haiti Kenya Gangs
Kenyan police that are part of a UN-backed multinational force welcome more Kenyan police after their plane landed at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Another 200 police officers from Kenya arrived for a U.N.-backed mission led by the East African country to battle violent gangs that have taken over parts of the Caribbean country. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — 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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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org