PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Residents of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince expressed cautious hope after the first contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in the Caribbean country as part of a long-delayed mission to help police combat armed gangs.
This week, several hundred Kenyan police officers landed in Haiti to lead a UN-sanctioned mission of more than 2,500 men. It is unclear, however, when the remaining troops will arrive.
Port-au-Prince resident Jean-Louis Pierre told Reuters he was hopeful the Kenyan deployment could help, but only if they stayed long enough to ensure security was sustainable.
“Now that the troops have arrived, the country can improve, but they have to stay. A few months or a year is not enough because then the country will fall into the same problem,” Pierre said.
The mission’s initial 12-month mandate expires in October. Previous missions to Haiti have left civilian casualties, a deadly cholera outbreak and a sexual abuse scandal for which no compensation has ever been paid.
The force was requested in 2022 by Haiti’s previous government, but gangs have since coalesced into a common alliance and taken over parts of the capital, causing indiscriminate killings, kidnappings for ransom, mass sexual violence and paralyzing the movement of people and goods.
While some activities have gradually resumed over the past month, the UN estimates that five million people are struggling to put food on the table and more than half a million are internally displaced.
New Prime Minister Garry Conille told reporters on Wednesday he would reconquer the country “house by house.”
But even as Kenyan police arrived on the scene, an unverified video emerged on social media showing gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, who served as a spokesman for the gang alliance, encouraging his men.
“Here’s Kenya: Shoot!” Cherizier chanted. “We don’t care if you’re black or white,” he said. “If you’re not Haitian and you’re on the ground, we consider you an intruder.”
In the video, Cherizier led a few dozen gun-toting followers, their faces hidden by hoods or balaclavas.
Conille has called on armed groups to lay down their weapons, and aid agencies have expressed concern about civilians who could be caught in the crossfire. The UN estimates that half of the gang members are children.
“Most young men are armed right now. They eat and drink because of those weapons,” student Venart Simeone told Reuters.
“I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes and I ask God not to put me in their shoes. What the country needs is work so that young people can live well.”
(Reporting by Steven Aristil, Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland; Editing by Michael Perry)
