Kenya puts Haiti police deployment on hold

‘Fundamental change in circumstances’ in Caribbean nation cited amid rising violence

Kenya is halting plans to deploy at least 1,000 police officers to Haiti following the unprecedented violence that erupted in the Caribbean nation and the announcement by its Prime Minister Ariel Henry that he would resign once a presidential council was created, according to a Kenyan official.

Kenya had agreed last October to lead a UN-authorised police force to Haiti, but the country’s top court in January ruled this was unconstitutional, in part because of a lack of reciprocal agreements on such deployments between the two countries.

Kenya’s President William Ruto said he and Henry had witnessed the signing of the reciprocal agreements between Kenya and Haiti on March 1, clearing the path for the deployment.

Under the plan, the United Nations-backed multinational police led by Kenyan officers was to help quell gang violence that had long plagued Haiti. But violence in Haiti escalated sharply since February 29, with gunmen burning police stations, closing the main international airports and raiding its two biggest prisons, releasing over 4,000 inmates.

Scores have been killed, and more than 15,000 are homeless after fleeing neighbourhoods raided by gangs. Food and water are dwindling and the main port in the capital of Port-au-Prince remains closed, stranding dozens of containers with critical supplies.

After returning from a trip to Kenya where he had gone to salvage plans for the African nation’s deployment, Henry has been locked out of his own country and has remained in Puerto Rico since last week.

“It is true the planned deployment ... has been put on hold,” Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said. “There has been a fundamental change in circumstances in Haiti as a result of the complete breakdown of law and order.”

Henry’s announcement on Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council was created indicated he was bowing to international pressure to make way for new leadership in the country overwhelmed by violent gangs.

Henry spoke after Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Jamaica to discuss a solution to Haiti’s spiralling crisis. “The government I’m running will remove itself immediately after the installation of the council,” Henry said in a recorded statement.

Sing’oei said without a clear administration in place in Haiti, there was no anchor for an international police force. Therefore, the Kenyan government will await the installation of a new authority in Haiti, before making further decisions on its deployment.