Two hundred Kenyan police officers have departed for Haiti under a United Nations-backed mission to quell rampant gang violence in the troubled Caribbean nation, a senior police official said on Tuesday.
Kenya deploys 200 extra police to tackle violence in Haiti
The deployment comes after the East African country sent about 400 police officers to Haiti’s violence-ravaged capital, Port-au-Prince, in June as part of a controversial proposal to send about 1,000 officers to help stabilize the country.
Promises by embattled President William Ruto to quell escalating anti-government protests in the country are facing persistent legal challenges in Kenya.
“The 200 police officers who left last night are due to arrive at their destination in Haiti this morning,” a senior police officer told AFP on Tuesday. “They will join their colleagues already there.”
Another senior police official confirmed to AFP that the officers had left on a chartered plane on Monday night, adding that “more will leave soon until the full 1,000 are there.”
The East African country is believed to be leading a force of around 2,500 troops in total.
Other countries, mainly from Africa and the Caribbean, also contribute to the mission, which is UN-recognized but not UN-controlled.
On July 1, the Kenyan National Police released a statement denying rumors that seven police officers had been killed in Haiti.
He said the troops had been “warmly welcomed” and that they were all safe and ready to carry out a clear and specific mission.
They “worked closely with their hosts, the Haitian National Police, to date conducting strategic mapping of areas of potential operational concern and conducting several joint patrols within Port-au-Prince.”
The deployment was approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October but was postponed in January after a Kenyan court ruled it unconstitutional.
The court said the Ruto administration had no powers to deploy officials abroad without prior bilateral agreements.
The government secured the agreement with Haiti in March, but a small opposition party, the Third Way Alliance Kenya, has filed a new lawsuit seeking to block the deal.
The United States is actively seeking a country to lead the mission and is providing funding and logistical support.
However, President Joe Biden has flatly ruled out sending U.S. troops on the ground to Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, where America has a history of intervention in the past.
Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns about the operation in Haiti and questioned its funding, while watchdog groups have repeatedly accused Kenyan police of using excessive force and committing unlawful killings.
Haiti has long been plagued by gang violence, but the situation escalated dramatically in late February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, claiming to want to topple then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Violence in Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs who are allegedly responsible for murder, rape, looting, kidnappings and other abuses, affecting food security and access to humanitarian aid in large parts of the city.
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