PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Residents of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince expressed cautious hope after a first contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in the Caribbean country as part of a long-delayed mission to help police combat armed gangs. .
A few hundred Kenyan police officers landed in Haiti this week to lead a United Nations-ratified mission expected to number more than 2,500 – although it remains unclear when the remaining forces might arrive.
Port-au-Prince resident Jean-Louis Pierre told Reuters he was hopeful the Kenyan detachment could help, but only if they stayed long enough to ensure security was sustainable.
“Now that the forces have arrived, the country can improve, but they need to stay. A few months or a year are not enough because the country will fall into the same problem,” said Pierre.
The mission’s initial 12-month mandate will expire in October. Previous missions in Haiti left behind murdered civilians, a deadly cholera outbreak and a sexual abuse scandal for which reparations were never made.
The force was requested by Haiti’s previous government in 2022, but since then the gangs have come together under a common alliance and taken control of areas of the capital, causing indiscriminate killings, kidnappings for ransom, mass sexual violence and paralyzing the circulation of people and goods.
Although some activities have gradually restarted 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 take back the country “house by house”.
But even as Kenyan police arrived, an unverified video shared on social media appeared to show gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, who served as spokesman for the gang alliance, rallying his men.
“Here’s Kenya: Shoot!” Cherizier sang. “We don’t care if you’re white or black,” he said. “If you are not Haitian and you are on the ground, we consider you to be an invader.”
In the video, Cherizier led a few dozen rifle-wielding followers whose faces were obscured by hoods or balaclavas.
Conille urged armed groups to lay down their weapons, and aid groups expressed concern about civilians who could be caught in the crossfire. The UN estimates that up to half of gang recruits are children.
“Most young people are armed at the moment. They eat and drink because of these weapons,” student Venart Simeone told Reuters.
“I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes and I ask God not to put me in them. 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)
