Kenyan lawmakers on Thursday voted to support a request to deploy hundreds of police officers to Haiti in a UN-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle gang violence, a televised broadcast from parliament showed.

Parliament approved the deployment of1,000 police officers to Haiti despite widespread criticism. In July, Kenya pledged to donate the police officers after Haiti appealed for international help with security personnel to assist in its battle against gangs blamed for spiralling violence.

But in early October an opposition party went to court and got an order suspending the deployment.

The small Caribbean state is plagued by gang violence, which controls 80 per cent of the capital, with the number of serious crimes reaching record levels, according to the UN representative in the country.

“The ayes have it,” laconically declared parliamentary Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei after asking the elected representatives to vote aloud. However, the deployment remains suspended by the Nairobi High Court, which has yet to examine an appeal lodged by an opponent arguing that the mission is unconstitutional.

It claimed the plan did not involve public participation and was also unconstitutional because only the military could be deployed outside the country.

Ms Boss called a vote and lawmakers approved the deployment, citing a report that said the deployment meets the constitutional requirement to take into account public views, which were collected between November 2 and 9.

As Haiti’s Prime Minister had placed the request for Kenya’s officers the request had met requirements under Kenya’s laws, a parliamentary committee concluded.

Gabriel Tongoyo, chairperson of parliament’s Administration and Internal Security Committee, said the deployment term was for one year and the United Nations will bear its costs.

The United Nations estimates some 200,000 Haitians have been displaced during escalating violence, with armed gangs carrying out indiscriminate killings, kidnappings, gang rapes and torching people’s homes.

A court is hearing the case on Thursday challenging the deployment’s legality.

The Kenyan government has been strongly criticised for its decision to send police officers to Haiti, a highly unstable and dangerous country.

Human rights NGOs point out that the Kenyan police are accustomed to using force, sometimes lethal, against civilians, which constitutes a major risk in a country where previous foreign interventions have been marked by human rights violations.

• A Reuters / AFP report