An advance team of Kenyan special forces police have arrived in the troubled Caribbean nation of Haiti. They are part of a larger UN-backed “support” mission tasked with establishing order, pushing back the advances of criminal gangs and allowing the freshly appointed interim government to function effectively.
In total, around 2,500 officers are expected to join the mission from a host of nations, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Benin and Chad. This multinational police force will do the heavy lifting on the ground. But the bulk of the money to see the mission through will come from the US.
It is a noble initiative aimed at rescuing what many regard a failed state. However, there is plenty of scepticism surrounding the efficacy of this mission, not least from many Kenyans and Haitians who are not particularly enthusiastic about it.
