Has situation in Haiti just gotten unusual US attention?

Antony Blinken arrived in the capital of Port-au-Prince to meet with Haiti’s transitional government amid gang violence.

Published On 6 Sep 20246 Sep 2024

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken has travelled to Haiti to show the United States’ support for a multinational effort to combat gang violence in the Caribbean nation.

Blinken arrived in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, where he met with interim Prime Minister Garry Conille and announced a new surge of humanitarian aid.

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“At this critical moment, we do need more funding, we do need more personnel to sustain and carry out the objectives of this mission,” Blinken told reporters.

Vast stretches of Haiti have fallen under gang control since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. That includes an estimated 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince.

The Haitian government has struggled to regain control and maintain peace, amid its own crisis of legitimacy.

Just one day before Blinken’s visit, Haiti’s interim government expanded an existing state of emergency to include the entire country, as the violence spills into its 10 departments.

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Previously, the state of emergency had only applied to the Ouest department, a populous area where Port-au-Prince is located.

But a spokesperson for Prime Minister Conille said the expanded emergency declaration reflects gang battles unfolding in departments like Artibonite, a large rice-growing region.

The violence has forced a record 578,074 people from their homes in 2024, marking the largest internal, crime-driven displacement crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, an estimated 2,500 were killed or wounded in the continuing violence.

But in June, the government of Kenya sent a first batch of 200 police officers to Haiti, in an effort to prop up the country’s law enforcement. A second group of 200 Kenyan officers arrived the next month, out of an expected total of 1,000.

Still, Blinken warned during his visit that the Kenyan forces alone may not be able to turn the tide against the gang violence.

He and other US officials have openly speculated whether a UN peacekeeping force is needed.

But that is a controversial proposition in Haiti, where UN peacekeepers were responsible for a deadly cholera outbreak during their last deployment to the country.

Nearly 10,000 people died as a result of the disease from 2010 to 2019.

The country has also grappled with a long history of foreign intervention, which has left many wary of international forces.

The first step, Blinken said during his visit, was to ensure the international community was prepared to continue supporting the Kenyan forces, who arrived as part of a programme called the Multinational Security Support Mission.

That mission was approved last October for a one-year span. Blinken said it was time for the UN to reconvene and approve an extension.

“The mission itself needs to be renewed,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on right now. But we also want something that’s reliable, that’s sustainable, and we’ll look at every option to do that. A UN peacekeeping mission is one option.”

The US has been the mission’s largest financial supporter, with the administration of President Joe Biden pledging $360m.

An additional $45m in humanitarian aid to Haiti was announced on Thursday.

Blinken also underscored the need for a stable, democratically elected government during his visit. He called on Haitian officials to put in place plans for new general elections next year.

“That is the critical next step,” he said. “We want to make sure Haiti is back on a clear democratic track.”

Haiti has not held federal elections since before President Moise’s assassination. In January 2023, its latest democratically elected officials reached their term limit, with no one to replace them.

The government was run at that point by former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, whom the late Moise appointed shortly before his death. But Henry – an unelected official – was widely unpopular, and local gangs used the distrust in the government to expand their reach and assert their own power.

Henry ultimately stepped down in April, allowing for the establishment of a transitional council tasked with reestablishing democratic norms.

“Much remains to be done, and we’re determined to continue,” Blinken said. “It’s starting to move.”

The question is WHY the UN mission for peacekeeping in Haiti is controversial

The deployment has been unpopular in Kenya, and rights groups have raised concerns over the UN-backed mission.

Members of the second contingent of Kenyan police arrive in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters]

Published On 17 Jul 202417

Another 200 Kenyan police officers have arrived in Haiti under a United Nations-backed mission to try to quell rampant gang violence in the troubled Caribbean nation.

The new batch that arrived on Tuesday brings the total to 400 Kenyan boots on the ground in the violence-ravaged capital of Port-au-Prince, Haitian sources said.

The Kenyan contingent of what is shaping up to be a multinational mission has run into persistent legal challenges in Nairobi, where embattled President William Ruto is simultaneously trying to calm roiling antigovernment protests at home.

More Kenyans are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months along with police and soldiers from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of 2,500 personnel.

The deployment was approved by a UN Security Council resolution in October, only to be delayed by a Kenyan court decision in January that ruled it unconstitutional.

The court said Ruto’s administration had no authority to send officers abroad without a prior bilateral agreement.

While the government secured that agreement with Haiti in March, a small opposition party, Thirdway Alliance Kenya, has filed a lawsuit in another attempt to block it.

The United States had been eagerly seeking a country to lead the mission and is supplying funding and logistical support.

President Joe Biden flatly ruled out putting US boots on the ground in Haiti.

Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about the Haiti mission and doubts over its funding, while watchdogs have repeatedly accused Kenyan police of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings.

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.

Haitian sources say the new batch that arrived on Tuesday brings the total to 400 Kenyan boots on the ground in violence-ravaged Port-au-Prince. [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters]

More Kenyans are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months. [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters]

Authorities have declined to provide details on the Kenyans’ assignments, citing security concerns. [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters]

The mission aims to quell gangs accused of killing more than 4,450 people last year, according to the UN. [Clarens Siffroy/AFP]

People walk along a street in central Port-au-Prince. Haiti has long been rocked by gang violence, but conditions worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital. [Johnson Sabin/EPA]

The violence in Port-au-Prince has affected food security and humanitarian aid access, with much of the city in the hands of gangs. [Mentor David Lorens/EPA]