Next month, Kenya will deploy another 600 police officers to Haiti as part of a broader international mission aimed at combating gangs, President William Ruto announced on Friday. His comments came during a visit by Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille, who sought to accelerate the mobilization of additional forces.
So far, more than 10 nations have pledged around 2,900 personnel to support the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) initiative. However, since the United Nations sanctioned the mission’s launch in June, only approximately 430 officers have been dispatched, including nearly 400 from Kenya.
Despite international efforts, heavily armed criminal gangs maintain control over most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, and continue expanding their influence. Just last week, the notorious Gran Grif gang orchestrated one of the deadliest attacks in Haiti in recent years, leaving at least 115 people dead in a rural region, according to local officials.
President Ruto expressed optimism about the progress, saying, “This is a battle we can win,” and affirmed that the additional 600 Kenyan officers are undergoing training to be ready for deployment next month.
Haitian Prime Minister Conille commended the swift response of both Haitian and Kenyan forces to last week’s massacre. “Within hours, the police and Kenyan units were able to reach the area by road and ensure swift protection of the targeted city,” he said.
The humanitarian situation in Haiti remains dire. The United Nations reports that over 700,000 people have been displaced, and more than five million are facing food shortages, which accounts for nearly half of Haiti’s population.
In September, the U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to extend the mandate of the MSS mission by another year. However, a proposal by the U.S. to convert the mission into a U.N. peacekeeping force was dropped after opposition from Russia and China.