NAIROBI, Kenya, CMC – Officials in Kenya say they are ready to lead a multinational force into Haiti as escalating violence between armed gangs and police fuels a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands.
“At the request of Friends of Haiti Group of Nations, Kenya has accepted to consider leading a Multinational Force to Haiti positively,” Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua said in a statement on Saturday, adding that “Kenya’s commitment is to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police to restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations.”
The Kenya Foreign Minister said his country’s proposal still needs a United Nations Security Council mandate and authorization from Kenyan authorities.
“An Assessment Mission by a Task Team of the Kenya Police is scheduled within the next few weeks,” Mutua said.
Earlier this month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the Security Council and significant potential contribution countries to act fast to create the conditions for deploying a multinational force to Haiti.
On Thursday, the United States issued a Level 4 (Do Not Travel) Advisory on Haiti, advising its officials, their families, and non-essential workers to leave the Caribbean nation as soon as possible on commercial flights.
The advisory also asked other U.S. nationals not to travel to Haiti, adding that if they must travel there, they should register with the “Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)…a free service that allows U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to enroll their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate so that we can provide important security and other information to the U.S. citizen community in Haiti.”
In the first quarter of this year, the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commission (OHCHR) reported that “at least 160,000 people have been displaced…531 people were killed, 300 injured and 277 kidnapped in gang-related incidents that took place mainly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to information gathered by the Human Rights Service of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti”.
The report stated these statistics are from January to March 15, 2023.
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