A second contingent of 200 Kenyan police officers has been sent to Haiti as part of a United Nations-supported initiative aimed at addressing the widespread gang violence in the troubled Caribbean nation.
This deployment, which brings the total number of Kenyan personnel on the ground in Port-au-Prince to 400, has faced criticism in Kenya, with concerns raised by rights organizations regarding the UN-backed mission.
The multinational effort, which is set to include forces from countries such as the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica, is expected to reach a total of 2,500 personnel in the coming weeks and months. The deployment, initially approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October, faced legal challenges in Kenya, with a court ruling in January deeming it unconstitutional due to the lack of a prior bilateral agreement.
Despite subsequently securing an agreement with Haiti in March, legal obstacles persist, with a small opposition party in Kenya filing a lawsuit in an attempt to halt the deployment.
The United States, while providing financial and logistical support, has made it clear that American troops will not be involved in the mission.
Haiti has long been rocked by gang violence, but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The violence in Port-au-Prince has affected food security and humanitarian aid access, with much of the city in the hands of gangs accused of abuses, including murder, rape, looting and kidnappings.
