Haiti residents cautiously hopeful as first Kenyan police deployed

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Reuters

Residents of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince expressed cautious hope after the first contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in the Caribbean country as part of a long-delayed mission to help police fight armed gangs.

A few hundred Kenyan police officers landed in Haiti this week to lead a United Nations-ratified mission of more than 2,500 men – although it remains unclear when the remaining troops might arrive.

Members of the first contingent of Kenyan police talk after arriving in the Caribbean country as part of a peacekeeping mission, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on June 26, 2024. PHOTO: Reuters/Ralph Tedy Erol/File image

Port-au-Prince resident Jean-Louis Pierre told Reuters he hoped the Kenyan deployment could help, but only if they stay long enough to ensure lasting security.

“Now that the troops have arrived, the country can improve, but they have to stay. A few months or a year is not enough, because then the country will fall into the same problem,” Pierre said.

The mission’s original 12-month mandate expires in October. Previous missions to Haiti have left civilian deaths, a deadly cholera outbreak and a sexual abuse scandal for which reparations have never been paid.

The force was requested in 2022 by Haiti’s previous government, but gangs have since coalesced into a common alliance and taken over parts of the capital, causing indiscriminate killings, kidnappings for ransom, mass sexual violence and paralyzing the movement of people and goods.

While some activities have gradually resumed over the past month, the UN estimates that five million people are struggling to put food on the table and more than half a million are internally displaced.

New Prime Minister Garry Conille told reporters on Wednesday that he would take back the country “one house at a time.”

But even as Kenyan police arrived, an unverified video shared on social media showed gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, who has acted as spokesman for the gang alliance, showing his men.

“Here’s Kenya: shoot!” Cherizier chanted. “We don’t care if you’re white or black,” he said. “If you are not Haitian and you are on the ground, we consider you an intruder.”

In the video, Cherizier led a few dozen followers with guns, their faces covered by hoods or balaclavas.

Conille has called on armed groups to lay down their weapons, and aid agencies have expressed concern about civilians who could be caught in the crossfire. The UN estimates that half of the gang members are children.

“Most young men are now armed. They eat and drink because of those weapons,” student Venart Simeone told Reuters.

“I wouldn’t want to be in their place and I ask God not to put me in that place. What the country needs is work so that young people can live well.”