200 more Kenyan police officers arrive in Haiti
A new planeload of 200 more police officers from Kenya arrived Tuesday in Haiti as part of the multinational U.N.-backed mission led by the East African country to neutralize the armed gangs that have taken over many urban areas in Haiti with detriment to law enforcement and commerce of all types.
The officers arrived nearly a month after the first expeditionary force of 200 landed at Toussaint L’Ouverture airport in the capital city of Port au Prince where gangs control at least 80% of the territory.
Authorities have declined to provide details on the Kenyans’ assignments, citing security concerns, although AP journalists have reported seeing them on patrol in areas near the main international airport, which reopened in late May after gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.
The barracks for the Kenyan police officers is believed to be located on the grounds of the airport, thus providing open space and a ready-made perimeter fence.
“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 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 U.N. Security Council.
The mission aims to subdue and disarm gangs accused of killing more than 4,450 people last year and injuring another 1,668, according to the U.N, more than double compared with 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 arrival of the Kenyans, others remain wary since Kenyan police have faced years of allegations of abuses in their own country, including extrajudicial killings.
A UN Contingent which stayed in Haiti from 2004 to 2017 accidently introduced cholera, and the resulting epidemic killed ten thousand Haitians.
The plan this time is to use trained police officers in the expectation of a more disciplined approach using personnel well-trained in dealing with the public.
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