UN-backed Kenyan force arrives in Haiti to combat gangs

The foreign police are arriving nearly two years after Haiti first requested outside help to quell gang violence

(Image credit: Clarens Siffroy / AFP via Getty Images)

published 26 June 2024

What happened

Some 400 Kenyan police officers arrived in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to launch a long-awaited peacekeeping mission. The deployment is the first wave of an expected 2,500-person law enforcement effort sanctioned by the United Nations to combat gang violence roiling the Caribbean country.

The Kenyan police will "face violent gangs that control 80% of Haiti's capital and have left more than 580,000 people across the country homeless," The Associated Press said. The mission is the "fourth major foreign military intervention in Haiti" since 1915. Haiti's previous government requested the outside help 20 months ago.

The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad and Jamaica said they will also contribute police or troops. The U.S. is providing most of the funding, logistics and supplies.

The international forces are expected to incrementally "tackle a long list of priorities, including retaking control of the country's main port and freeing major highways from criminal groups that demand money from drivers," The New York Times said. "Some gang leaders have threatened to respond to the arrival of the force with violence," The Washington Post said, while others have called for "dialogue."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.