Seven countries to contribute mission agents to Haiti

Kenya, Benin, and Chad are among the Africans; Bahamas, Jamaica, and Barbados are among the Caribbeans; and Bangladesh.

New York – Seven countries from Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia expressed on Friday their willingness to contribute agents for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), which will be deployed in Haiti to assist the Haitian police.

According to a UN source, these countries are Kenya – which offered months ago to lead the mission – Benin and Chad among the Africans; Bahamas, Jamaica, and Barbados among the Caribbean countries, and Bangladesh, and so notified the Secretary-General.

Some countries, such as Chad and Bangladesh, have experience in international deployments as blue helmets in peacekeeping missions. However, the UN has always made it clear that the mission in Haiti will not be for peacekeeping but merely for support, being subordinated to the Haitian National Police.

It does not seem that there would be any problems obtaining the estimated 2,000 agents needed for this mission, but its formation faces another major drawback: the trust fund opened to finance it has only managed to raise 18 million dollars when it is estimated that the mission will need 240 million dollars a year for its operation.

Of those millions raised, Canada has provided the most ($8.7 million), followed by the U.S. ($6 million) and France ($3.2 million), so the spokesperson’s office once again urged member states to be more generous and fill the gap to cover all the needs.

While the MSS is being finalized, the Caribbean country is sinking into chaos, with large parts of the capital in the hands of criminal gangs, the port and airport closed to international traffic, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons, and more than 5 million Haitians dependent on humanitarian aid.

Kenya prepared

On the other hand, Kenyan President William Ruto assured that his country “is ready and willing” to send police to help restore order in Haiti after the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) was installed on Thursday. The Caribbean country has plunged into a severe violence crisis.

“Kenya assures Haiti’s CPT of its full support as it guides the country through this complex interregnum,” Ruto said in a message posted on his X profile late Thursday.

Kenya, he stressed, is “ready and willing, in concert with a broad alliance of African and CARICOM nations committed to Haiti’s stability, to swiftly execute the security support infrastructure envisioned” in UN Security Council Resolution 2699.