An additional 200 Kenyan police officers have been dispatched to Haiti as part of a UN-supported initiative aimed at addressing widespread gang violence, joining the 400 officers already stationed there.
Senior police officials confirmed on Tuesday that another group of 200 Kenyan police officers has departed for Haiti as part of a UN-sanctioned mission to combat escalating gang violence in the troubled Caribbean nation.
This deployment follows Kenya’s earlier dispatch of approximately 400 officers to the violence-plagued capital of Port-au-Prince in June, marking a contentious commitment to send around 1,000 police personnel to assist in stabilizing the country.
The pledge, initiated by embattled President William Ruto amidst efforts to quell intense anti-government protests domestically, has faced persistent legal challenges in Kenya.
“We have 200 police officers who left last night, they should land in their destination of Haiti this morning,” one senior police officer told AFP on Tuesday. “They are joining their colleagues who are already on the ground.”
Another senior police source confirmed to AFP that the officers had left on Monday night, travelling by chartered plane, adding: “More will be departing soon until we have all the 1,000.”
The East African nation is leading a force expected to number a total of some 2,500 personnel.
Other countries, mostly in Africa and the Caribbean, are also contributing to the mission, which is blessed but not managed by the United Nations.
On July 1, Kenya’s National Police Service issued a statement to scotch rumours that seven officers had been killed in Haiti.
The forces deployed had been “received warmly”, and were “all safe and ready to discharge their clear and specific mandate,” it said.
They were “working closely with their host, the Haitian National Police, and have so far undertaken strategic mapping of the likely areas of operational concerns and conducted several joint patrols within Port-au-Prince.”
The deployment, authorized by a UN Security Council resolution in October, faced delays due to a January Kenyan court ruling deeming it unconstitutional. The court argued that Ruto’s administration lacked authority to send officers abroad without a prior bilateral agreement.
In March, Kenya finalized such an agreement with Haiti, yet faces opposition from the Thirdway Alliance Kenya party, which filed a new lawsuit seeking to block it.
The United States, keen to find a leader for the mission, is providing funding and logistical support but has ruled out deploying troops in Haiti, citing historical intervention concerns in the Americas’ poorest nation.
Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns about the mission’s funding and criticized Kenyan police for alleged excessive force and unlawful killings.
Haiti has long struggled with gang violence, exacerbated in late February by coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince aiming to overthrow then-prime minister Ariel Henry. The resulting violence has severely impacted food security and humanitarian aid access, with gangs accused of widespread abuses including murder, rape, looting, and kidnappings.