Jamaica offers troops for Haiti
Jamaica’s prime minister says his government is willing to send soldiers and police officers to Haiti as part of a proposed multinational security assistance deployment.
The announcement comes a week after UN special envoy for Haiti Helen La Lime said she hoped that the UN Security Council would deal ‘‘positively’’ with the pending request from Haiti’s government for international armed forces despite the US and Canada showing no interest.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the island’s House of Representatives on Wednesday that he wants to help
Haiti and ‘‘support a return to a reasonable level of stability and peace, which would be necessary for any inclusive, democratic process to take root’’.
The announcement appears to mark the first time that a nation in the Western Hemisphere publicly offers boots on the ground after Haiti’s prime minister and other top officials requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops in early October amid a crippling fuel siege blamed on the country’s most powerful gang.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and La Lime have backed Haiti’s plea to no avail.
The UN Security Council has mulled the request but taken no action, opting instead to issue sanctions on people including
Jimmy Cherizier, a dominant gang leader and former police officer blamed for masterminding multiple massacres.
‘‘It is our impression that the international community has not yet taken stock of the urgency of the situation that the Haitian people are facing,’’ Leon Charles, former chief of Haiti’s National Police, said yesterday during an Organisation of American States meeting. ‘‘My country is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history,’’ said Charles, who is Haiti’s permanent representative to the OAS.
He likened the aid that Haiti has received so far from the international community to buckets of water to help put out a raging fire when what the country needs is
firetrucks equipped with heavyduty hoses.
Meanwhile, Holness said Jamaica is ready to offer bilateral support if needed.
‘‘It is our real hope that Haiti will soon overcome her challenges and embark on a path toward restoration of stability, long-lasting peace and
sustainable development for her land and people with the full backing of the international community,’’ he said.
A UN spokesman said the organisation has not seen any formal offers, but that countries can make offers directly to those leading the effort to establish a force.