After months of delays, four hundred Kenyan security officers arrived in Haiti this week as part of a contingent of international police forces sent to quell rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation. Last October, a United Nations Security Council resolution authorized a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to help the Haitian National Police combat violence and restore peace in the largely gang-ruled country.
In Haiti, millions of people are in need of humanitarian assistance to fight hunger amid a deteriorating security situation. The humanitarian crisis in Haiti is characterized by a rapid escalation of gang violence, which has added to the suffering of people already affected by critical levels of food insecurity, poverty and the collapse of basic services.
While nearly 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes, others remain trapped in gang-controlled neighborhoods. Haiti is now the country with the highest number of people displaced by crime-related violence in the world.
Armed gangs control or influence more than 90 percent of the capital and have spread into rural areas of the country. They have carried out massacres, kidnappings, human trafficking and sexual violence. Recent attacks and violence by armed groups have plunged Haiti into a dramatic security crisis, with civilians under fire far beyond the capital.
Security Council Resolution 2699 (2023) authorizes the MSS mission for an initial period of one year, with a review after nine months. Kenya has volunteered to lead the non-UN security mission.
At a pre-deployment send-off ceremony, Kenyan President Willam Ruto told police officers departing for Haiti that their mission would help bring lasting peace to the conflict-ravaged country.
"This mission is one of the most urgent, important and historic in the history of global solidarity. It's a mission to affirm the universal values of the community of nations and a mission to take a stand for humanity," Ruto said at the ceremony.
Earlier this year, Kenya's High Court ruled against the deployment, saying it was unconstitutional. Among the issues cited by the court was the lack of a "reciprocal agreement" between the countries. The Kenyan government eventually secured that agreement, but there is another lawsuit seeking to block the deployment. The High Court has yet to issue its decision.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said Tuesday that the arrival of the Kenyan police as part of the MSS mission was a significant step forward for Haiti.
“The United States welcomes this crucial deployment authorized by U.S.-led Security Council Resolution 2699, which will bolster the Haitian National Police in their efforts to ensure safety and security for the Haitian people,” she said.
The United States is the largest donor to the MSS and has committed $360 million to facilitate the success of the mission, which includes logistics, equipment and training.
“The Haitian people deserve security and the freedom to engage in daily activities without fear—whether it’s going to work, school, or church. The MSS will play a crucial role in delivering the safety and security that Haitians rightly demand, along with sustaining political stability and promoting Haitian-led solutions for the benefit of all Haitian citizens,” Thomas-Greenfield said
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also welcomed the arrival in Port-au-Prince of the first Kenyan contingent of the international police force. He appealed to all UN member states to ensure that the mission receives the financial support it needs to successfully carry out its mandate.
According to his spokesperson, Guterres is closely following the progress made by the Transitional Government in restoring the country's democratic institutions through peaceful, credible, participatory and inclusive elections.
Regarding the crisis of the country's political institutions, there have been some encouraging developments in recent months.
On April 25, the Transitional Presidential Council was inaugurated. On May 28, Garry Conille was sworn in as the Caribbean nation's new prime minister. On June 11, Haiti's transitional council appointed a new cabinet.
The deployment of the first international police contingent is seen as the first of several milestones in the process of restoring security and prosperity to Haiti, but it is unclear when the rest of the force will arrive. Other countries have pledged to send additional police.
The Caribbean countries of the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda have said they will contribute personnel. In addition, other African countries such as Chad, Senegal, and Burundi have announced that they will strengthen the multinational force.
And there is more good news for the country.
The resumption of flights at the Port-au-Prince airport in May has allowed aid agencies to airlift medicine, supplies and other equipment critical to emergency humanitarian operations.
On June 21, the international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) airlifted 80 tons of medicine and equipment for its operations in the capital, following three months of supply disruptions due to insecurity.
Since last month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has operated four cargo flights to support its own operations and those of its partners. The flights included medicines, medical equipment and supplies to pre-position for the ongoing hurricane season.
Fierce fighting between gangs around Port-au-Prince International Airport forced all commercial airlines to suspend operations. Since late February, the movement of goods such as medicines and fuel between the capital and the provinces has been severely restricted, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
In recent weeks, WFP has also begun to shift from distributing hot meals to providing cash to thousands of families living in displacement sites in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
Although aid agencies are scaling up their operations, humanitarian needs remain high in the capital and throughout the country. Some 5.5 million people nationwide are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3 million Haitian children caught up in rampant gang violence.
The US$674 million Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is only 25 percent funded, with US$180 million received.
Since late February, unprecedented violence has engulfed Port-au-Prince, with the Haitian capital cut off from the outside world for weeks following the closure of its airport and seaport. Amid the ongoing violence and isolation, Haiti's health system has been severely affected, leaving people without essential medical services.
The country's health system continues to face enormous challenges, crippled by both the recent violence and years of underinvestment. Currently, only 20 percent of health facilities in Port-au-Prince are functioning normally.
Since February 29, coordinated attacks by armed gangs have targeted police stations, hospitals, schools, homes, churches, banks and commercial establishments, as well as the port and airport. Ongoing armed attacks and clashes between armed groups and police in some communities in Port-au-Prince are causing new displacements and forcing previously displaced people to flee again.
Nearly 580,000 people, including 300,000 children, are internally displaced throughout Haiti as a result of the deteriorating security situation in Greater Port-au-Prince, particularly between late February and April.
An estimated 2.7 million people, including 1.6 million women and children, live in areas under effective gang control. An estimated 1.2 million children are at risk in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The United Nations says Haiti needs a combination of a strengthened national police force, the rapid deployment of the MSS mission and credible elections to put the country back on the path to security and stability.
In the midst of a worsening security crisis, hunger in Haiti has reached unprecedented levels. Some 4.97 million people - nearly half the country's population - are now acutely food insecure, including more than 1.64 million at the emergency level, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis.
Thousands of children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition.
In another development this week, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sounded the alarm on Wednesday about the risks faced by women and girls amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis, with armed groups using sexual violence as a tactic to instill fear and take control of entire neighborhoods.
UNFPA warned that while reports of rape and sexual violence are soaring, they vastly under-represent the true scale of these horrific crimes.
The Fund said it continues to provide medicines and supplies, including for the clinical management of rape survivors, to 12 health facilities in the capital and surrounding region. Mobile clinics are also operating in eight displacement sites to support reproductive health, as well as hotlines for survivors of sexual assault and the provision of safe spaces.