Ruto met with Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader and signed agreements
Image: PCSU

The proposed UN Security Mission to Haiti, which will be headed by Kenya, has received approval from the Dominican Republic to lend help.

After meeting with Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader in New York on Tuesday, President William Ruto made the announcement.

“Resolved to work together to bring peace and stability to Haiti. The grateful Dominican Republic will establish a mission in Nairobi,” Ruto said.

 

A Framework Cooperation Agreement was signed during the conference between Kenya and the Dominican Republic to improve bilateral ties and exchange experts, researchers, professors, interns, and programmes for institutional building.

Joe Biden, the president of the United States, earlier praised Ruto for his willingness to send police personnel to Haiti to assist and educate the country's law enforcement in their attempts to stabilise the unstable country.

Ruto was there for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, and Biden stressed the importance of the organisation continuing to uphold peace, avoid violence, and lessen suffering around the world.

 

"We embrace nations stepping up to lead new ways and to seek new breakthroughs on hard issues. For example on Haiti, the Caribbean communities facilitated a dialogue among Haitian society," Biden said.

"I thank President William Ruto of Kenya for his willingness to serve as the lead nation of a UN-backed security support system."

Additionally, he requested that the UN Security Council approve the expedition to the Caribbean country, saying that "the people of Haiti cannot wait any longer."

Last month, a Kenyan security team visited Haiti on an assessment mission and informed Ruto of their findings.

If it is decided to send police to stop the gang violence that has destroyed the Caribbean country, a number of things are planned.

These tasks involve selecting the crew to be hired, identifying them, equipping them, funding them, and sending them to Haiti.

On their visit of Haiti, the crew encountered Prime Minister Ariel Henry, officials of his administration, and representatives of the High Council of the Transition (HTC).

This occurs before the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police personnel, who will fight the gang violence destroying the Caribbean country.

An international police force geared at the mission, which is expected to start in a month, will be led by Kenya.

The team also met with senior officers of the Haitian National Police (PNH) to discuss security issues and the PNH's shortcomings, according to officials.

They also met with Frantz Elbe, the police chief, on August 22.

The crew was reportedly shown about Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital, and other gang-affected areas, according to the Haitian media.

The group is intended to support Haiti's overworked and underfunded police force, which has just approximately 10,000 officers to serve its more than 11 million inhabitants.

The squad was commanded by Noor Gabow, Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police.

The Kenyan delegation met with nations and organisations in New York to discuss how to effectively assist Haiti before departing for Haiti on Sunday.

According to the most recent UN figures, more than 2,400 persons were reported dead in Haiti between January 1 and August 15, more than 950 were kidnapped, and another 902 were injured.

The Kenyan officials said the countries they met understand “the Haitian demands and the urgent need to put an end to a situation which is paralysing the functioning of the country and putting the future of its citizens in danger.”

Henry's government first requested international security assistance last October, but despite repeated calls from the United Nations, the call went unanswered until Kenya said it was prepared to lead such a force last month.

After the Kenyan assessment, the plan to send a security force to Haiti will pass a vote at the UN Security Council.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for the planned multinational force to include safeguards to prevent abuses.

Previous interventions left behind a devastating cholera epidemic, as well as over a hundred allegations of sexual abuse.

Countries have also been wary of backing Henry's unelected government.

Henry, who is facing international pressure to broaden political consensus and include more people in decision-making, has in turn pledged to hold elections once security is re-established.

The government statement said Henry had reiterated the need to establish free movement of people and goods and that lessons had been learned from previous missions in Haiti.

"Kenyan troops benefit from much experience, having served in places such as Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Somalia, Sudan and Angola,"  the statement reads.

Other regional countries have pledged to send their police officers to make it 2,000 strong force.

Henry said on August 7 that he spoke with Ruto to thank Kenya for the “demonstration of fraternal solidarity.”

The Caribbean nation is suffering from a surge in gang violence and is in a deep security, political and humanitarian crisis.

As the search continued, gang warfare continued to worsen, leading to a wave of hundreds of kidnappings and the emergence of vigilantes taking justice into their own hands.

Armed groups control an estimated 80 per cent of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.