Jamaican soldiers join Kenyans in Haiti mission as fight against gangs intensifies
Jamaican security personnel disembark from a US Coast Guard airplane in a deployment with Belizean forces to support an international security mission aimed at fighting gangs, at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti September 12, 2024.
Soldiers and police officers from Jamaica have arrived in Haiti and joined the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission to fight powerful gangs that have unleashed an orgy of violence in the Caribbean nation.
The Jamaican team of 20 soldiers and four police officers on Thursday touched down at the Toussant International Airport, Port-au-Prince, and were received by the MSS mission commander Godfrey Otunge and Director-General of the Haiti National Police (HNP) Rameau Normil.
In addition, two senior military officers from the Central American Country of Belize joined the team on a fact-finding mission before their security team arrives.
Jamaica, whose commander is Colonel Kevron Henry, is the second country to send its team to assist the Kenyan officers in fighting the gangs. Colonel Henry will deputise Mr Otunge in the mission.
“The arrival of the officers to join us is greatly welcomed. It is going to synergise our ongoing joint operations between HNP and MSS that are aimed at ensuring that Haitians enjoy security in their country,” Mr Otunge said.
He further added that since the start of the operations, the Kenyan team had recorded success in restoring security.
Mr Otunge said that they will go on having numerous security operations as the Jamaican team had come “with special strength.”
The force commander also said that they have received a warm welcome in Haiti.
“It is our aim to ensure that Haitians get the right information devoid of propaganda and misinformation. We welcome you since you play a critical role in this mission,” he said.
He asked other countries that had promised to deploy their officers to Haiti to do so in time saying that the stipulated deployment phase was almost coming to an end.
The first contingent of Kenyan officers arrived in Haiti in late June and the other did so a month later.
On Sunday, this week, Jamaica had made an announcement that it will send its soldiers to Haiti.
It is worth noting that Jamaica had promised to deploy 170 soldiers and 30 police officers, but its government through Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that it will be difficult to have all of them deployed at once.
Apart from Kenya and Jamaica, other countries expected to deploy their soldiers to Haiti include Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Italy, Spain, Mongolia, Senegal, Belize, Suriname, Guatemala and Peru.
The Kenyan team has engaged the gangs in the country for months and recently Jimmy Cherizier alias Barbeque, the most feared gang leader in Haiti, accused them of being ruthless.
Stern warning to Kenyans
Initially before the mission kicked off, the gang leader had sent a stern warning asking the Kenyans not to step in Haiti as the gang members were ready to fight them.
Barbeque, a former police officer, said in a Tiktok video that Kenyan officers alongside those serving in the Haiti National Police (HNP) stormed his base and engaged the gang members using bullets and teargas.
“The police didn’t stop, they even came to almost the place that I was shooting and also used teargas canisters,” he said.
Kenyan officers in Haiti have in the past been accused of not coming out of their base which is located in Port-au-Prince which is the capital city of Haiti.
However, Kenyan officers who spoke to the Nation said that they have conducted a series of raids and engaged the gang members.
“We have reclaimed a hospital which was being run by the gang members and also in more areas the gangs have been wiped out,” said an officer who spoke in confidence as he is not authorised to speak with the media.
Resources
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week said that it was important to ensure that the officers have the required resources.
“We want to make sure that the mission has the resources that it needs to do the job as effectively as possible. And so we’re looking at additional personnel contributions,” he said.
He said that it was critical to ensure the officers in the Caribbean nation get their salaries in time.
“We have some money in the bank to do that, including through the United Nations (UN) fund that’s been established. But as we’re projecting out and as we’re looking at growing the MSS mission itself, we also have to figure out what’s going to be required to pay for that, and I think we’re going to need more funding to do that,” he said.
“That’s exactly why I’m bringing together colleagues at the UN General Assembly on the margins of that, just to make sure that we are properly resourcing it,” he added.
On July 7, Kenyan Police officers started receiving equipment, including armoured vehicles, that they will be using in Haiti.
Between January and May, a total of 600,000 people had been displaced internally due to gang activities. The gangs have been wanting to control most parts of the country due to a political challenge facing the Caribbean based nation.
