After months of delay, an international policing mission is finally under way to help Haiti wrest back control of the capital’s streets from gangs and pave the way towards the Caribbean nation’s first elections since 2016.
Approved by the UN back in October last year, the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission has met significant opposition: in Kenya, a judge ruled that it was unconstitutional; in the United States, which is largely bankrolling the deployment, Republicans demanded more transparency and clearer objectives; and in Haiti, many are wary of outside interference given troubled and abuse-ridden interventions in the past.
None of this ended up stopping a first contingent of 400 Kenyan police from landing in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on June 25. As they begin work, this in-depth briefing explores why they’re there, what they’ll be doing, and what the implications are for millions of Haitians trapped in one of the world’s most intractable humanitarian crises.
What is the situation in Haiti?
Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, gang violence has soared to unprecedented levels and dramatically reduced humanitarian assistance just when it is most needed.
The security situation deteriorated even further in February this year when gangs joined forces in a so-called Viv Ansanm (Living Together, in Creole) coalition to overthrow acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry, launching coordinated assaults on police stations, government buildings and key infrastructure; and taking control of the international airport and the main seaport.
After weeks of lawless limbo, Henry was replaced in April by a transitional presidential council. Garry Conille, a former regional director of UNICEF, has been chosen as prime minister to lead the interim government through to elections expected by early 2026.
During the first three months of the year, 1,660 people were killed and 845 injured, a record high since the UN started monitoring human rights in Haiti in early 2022, and 53 per cent more than the last three months of last year. Nearly 580,000 people are displaced, 215,000 more than in March.
The roots of Haiti’s problems date back to colonial times. Although the Caribbean nation became the world’s first Black republic in 1804, it was forced to pay billions to France in order to secure its freedom. That debt crippled Haiti economically and – combined with decades of dictatorships, natural disasters, political and environmental mismanagement, a long US military occupation, and a debilitating US trade embargo – contributed to its recent turmoil.
About half the population of 11.5 million now faces acute food insecurity. Kidnapping, rapes and looting have become part of daily life, while the collapse of institutions makes it impossible to find protection, healthcare and justice.
With gangs controlling all the main roads connecting Port-au-Prince to the rest of the country, bringing assistance to those in need is almost impossible. Gangs have also been extending their operations and areas of control to other parts of the country.
The toll on children is horrendous. A new UN report shows that in 2023, 128 children were killed and another 78 mutilated. Gangs used them in attacks against the Haitian National Police (PNH), tortured them, sexually abused them, and sometimes burned them alive. The UN estimates that 30-50 per cent of armed group members are children.
Because many schools have been forced to close or because it is too dangerous to circulate in the streets, children are left with no education. Job opportunities are scarce too, often leaving young people no other choice than to join local gangs for survival.
What do we know about this new mission?
Kenya is leading the force and has committed to sending more than 1,000 police officers, who will be commanded by Senior Assistant Inspector General of Police Godfrey Otunge.
Other countries have pledged either personnel or logistic and financial support. In a statement released after the deployment, US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply grateful” to those nations, “including Benin, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Algeria, Canada, France, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Spain.”
A US State Department spokesperson said that 400 Kenyans and approximately 250 Jamaican personnel have already been vetted, and the department “continue[s] to engage and vet personnel from other countries”.
The Kenyan authorities have said the police officers it has deployed belong to units that have fought al-Shabab jihadists at the Kenya-Somali border and are experienced in heavy combat.
The United States may not be officially leading the mission or sending troops, but it was the diplomatic driving force behind assembling it, and it appears to be responsible for financing, arming and training it too. In the past month and a half, the US has flown dozens of planes into Port-au-Prince, bringing in equipment and civilian contractors to set up a new barracks and HQ for the mission near the international airport.
How is the mission being funded?
The estimated cost of the MSS is $600 million annually. A UN Trust Fund was created to receive donations from member countries to finance it.
In a November 2023 report, the Kenyan parliament stated that it required $241.4 million to prepare its 1,000 officers for the deployment, including: $1.5 million for training; $9.1 million for weapons, ammunition and anti-riot equipment; and $157 million for administrative support. It also put as a condition that the resources needed by the MSS had to be made available prior to the deployment.
In February and March, to help to try and move things forward, Canada pledged an additional $60 million and the $300 million to support the force, but a significant part of the US money was blocked by Republicans in Congress.
To finally get things moving, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken overrode Congress on 18 June and authorised the State Department to use $109 million to fund the MSS, in the hope that more donations from other countries would follow. Only $15 million of this amount had previously been cleared by Congress.
“The funding will support MSS requirements, including pre-deployment training, personnel reimbursements, equipment, provision of MSS Police Advisors, MEDEVAC capabilities, base refurbishments, and other logistical costs,” the US State Department spokesperson said.
So far, Canada has only deposited $8.7 million into the separate UN Trust Fund, the US $6 million, France $3.2 million and Spain $3 million, for a total of $21 million.
What happens if the multinational force runs short on money remains unclear?
“Few of the countries that are offering forces would have the ability to self-fund for the operations that will be required,” Keith Mines, vice president for Latin America at the United States Institute of Peace, says. ”The funding is an issue”.
What is the mission’s mandate and how will it operate?
According to UN Security Council Resolution 2699, approved on October 2, 2023, the mandate of the MSS is to provide “operational support” to the PNH by “building its capacity through the planning and conduct of joint security operations” to counter gangs, to secure key infrastructure, and to “help ensure unhindered and safe access to humanitarian aid for the population assistance”.
The Kenyan and Haitian governments signed a status of forces agreement on June 1 that hasn’t been made public but reportedly establishes the terms under which stationed troops can intervene and must conduct themselves. It is not clear what the terms are or if other nations contributing personnel will sign similar agreements.
Biden’s statement suggested more far-reaching aims: “Haiti’s future depends on the return to democratic governance. While these goals may not be accomplished overnight, this mission provides the best chance of achieving them.”
The mission was initially conceived as year-long with a review after nine months, but this was from the time of UN approval in October and no new timeline has been issued since.
Monica Juma, Kenya’s former foreign minister who now serves as national security adviser to President William Ruto, suggested the intervention could last longer, cautioning: “It is our hope that this will not become a permanent mission.”
The unusual nature of the force – UN-approved but not really a UN nor a peacekeeping mission – has some experts questioning who will really be in charge and how its procedures will work.
“This is uncharted territory,” William O’Neill, the UN-appointed independent expert on Human Rights for Haiti, says. “How will that force be able to operate in Haiti? How will they relate to the government? To civil society? What is their communication strategy? We have no answer to that right now. That’s a huge deal because it’s not going to be a police operation in isolation. The success of the MSS will depend on a lot of these other issues.”
Adding to concerns over clarity and transparency is the fact that neither the rules of engagement nor the mission’s concept of operations have been shared publicly.
The US State Department spokesperson said “the concept of operations (CONOPS) and operational approach of the MSS mission includes four phases: deployment, decisive operations, stabilisation, and transition”, but they refused to give more details “for operational security” reasons.
The UN resolution specified that the leadership of the MSS, in coordination with the Haitian government and participating member states, was required to inform the UN Security Council on the CONOPS, the rules of engagement and the line of command prior to the deployment, but a UN source, who requested to speak anonymously, said that this hadn’t happened by 21 June.
“Apart from the Security Council resolution and last week’s agreement between Kenya and Haiti, there still is little documentation formalising the existence of the mission,” they said. “It is very worrisome that there is nothing clearly established yet.”
Is language going to be an issue?
Most Kenyans don’t speak French, let alone Haitian Creole, but opinion is divided on whether this will be a problem.
Lionel Lazarre, coordinator of the Haitian police union SYNAPOHA, said it wouldn’t be an issue because many PNH officers – like their Kenyan counterparts – speak English, and interpreters will be used as needed.
John Colem Morvan, a former Haitian policeman who now lives in Canada but maintains strong connections within the PNH, says the plan was for Kenyan unit leaders to communicate by radio in English with the leaders of specialised Haitian units when operating together on the ground.
Kenyan police have also been taking French classes, while Morvan said the PNH’s high command had requested that almost all the Haitian brigades provide a list of policemen with knowledge of street combat who have a good level of English.
Others, however, worry how this will play out and wonder how the Kenyan police will communicate with the local population when they have to.
“The fact that Kenyans don’t speak French will cause many collateral damages,” said Mario Joseph, managing attorney of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) in Port-au-Prince. “Will interpreters be in the line of fire? How will they proceed to help foreign officers understand Haitians?”