Kenyan police leave Haiti after unsuccessful security mission

All of the Kenyan police officers deployed to gang-plagued Haiti as part of a security support mission have left the country, a Haitian source confirmed Tuesday, as another UN-approved operation gets up and running.

Kenya took the lead in the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), greenlit by the UN Security Council in late 2023 to help Haiti's overwhelmed police secure the country from powerful gangs.

However, armed groups remain in control of significant territory and continue to inflict devastating violence in the Caribbean nation.

Underfunded and under-equipped, the MSS only ever saw about half of an expected 2,500 officers deployed.

Last year, the UN Security Council voted to transform the mission into a more robust Gang Suppression Force (GSF), with up to 5,500 police and soldiers.

While it has United Nations operational support, it remains a non-UN force.

A contingent of 400 soldiers from Chad has arrived in Port-au-Prince so far.

Government officials in Haiti attended a ceremony marking the end of the MSS over the weekend, the source within Haitian National Police said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The source said that the last group of Kenyan police departed on Monday.

In a post on X, the GSF thanked the Kenyan forces for their "courage and unwavering dedication" amid conditions that were "among the worst imaginable."

Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has for years been plagued by instability as powerful gangs carry out rampant killings, rapes, looting and kidnappings.

About 1.5 million Haitians have been displaced by gang violence, the UN warns. By Clarens SIFFROY (AFP/File)

The security crisis worsened in early 2024, when gangs launched a wave of violence that forced the country's unelected prime minister to resign.

He was replaced by a interim presidential council, but it dissolved in February this year, handing power to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.

Elections have not been held in the country since 2016.

According to the UN, gangs control nearly all the capital of Port-au-Prince and have expanded their influence beyond the city in the past year.