More Kenyan police arrive to fight violent gangs

PORT-AU-PRINCE(AP):

Another 200 police officers from Kenya arrived on Tuesday in Haiti for a UN-backed mission, led by the East African country, to battle violent gangs that have taken over parts of the troubled Caribbean country.

The officers arrived nearly a month after the first contingent of 200 landed in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where gangs control at least 80 per cent of the city.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned “the extreme levels of armed violence” in Haiti that are undermining security in the country and the region.

The authorities have declined to provide details on the Kenyans’ assignments, citing security concerns. Associated Press journalists have seen them on patrol in areas near the main international airport, which reopened in May after a surge in gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.

“We are happy to work side-by-side with the Kenyans,” Normil Rameau, the new chief of Haiti’s National Police, said shortly after they arrived. “In the name of the government, we give them a warm welcome.”

More Kenyans are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months and will be joined by police and soldiers from The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica for a total of 2,500 personnel. They will be deployed in phases at a cost of some $600 million a year, according to the UN Security Council.

The Kenyan-led mission is meant to bolster Haiti’s National Police, which remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 10,000 officers active at a time in a country of more than 11 million people.

The mission also aims to quell gangs accused of killing more than 4,450 people last year and injuring another 1,668, according to the UN, more than double that of the previous year. More than 1,500 people were killed or injured in the first three months of this year.

While some Haitians have welcomed the Kenyans’ arrival, others remain wary.