Troops from Jamaica and Belize join international mission in Haiti

Port-au-Prince. A new contingent from Jamaica and Belize arrived in Port-au-Prince on Thursday to join the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MMAS), tasked with helping local police confront the gangs that have been devastating the Caribbean country for months.

The group – made up of 20 Jamaican soldiers and four police officers, as well as two Belizean soldiers – joins the 400 Kenyan agents already deployed in Haiti, and will have to prepare for the arrival of other troops from countries in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

“I am delighted that the Caricom advance team is already here, and we will carry out other security operations because they are coming with a special force,” said the commander of the MMAS, Kenyan Godfrey Otunge, during a welcome ceremony at Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince.

The officer welcomed the fact that the force, which is expected to total 2,500 troops, is now “fully multinational” following the arrival of agents from countries other than Kenya.

Despite Otunge’s talk on Thursday of successes in targeted operations against gangs, security in Haiti remains very precarious.

Joint interventions by the national police and the international force in Port-au-Prince, particularly in the Bel-Air and Bas de Delmas neighbourhoods, the stronghold of gang leader Jimmy Chérisier alias “Barbecue”, have not yet achieved any notable success.

Armed gangs still control more than 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, as well as the main national highways.

Gang clashes resumed in Cité Soleil on Wednesday, about two months after a truce between rival gangs was announced.

The final of a soccer championship was the scene of a shootout between gangs from the Simon Pelé and Nan Boston neighborhoods that left several victims, according to local pastor Enock Joseph, who could not specify how many.

Haiti is facing a dire humanitarian crisis, which worsened in February when gangs joined forces to overthrow the government of unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The violence of these gangs, accused of murder, looting, rape and kidnapping, has left almost 600,000 internally displaced between January and June 2024 and has led to 5.5 million people, almost half of the population, suffering humanitarian needs, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch.