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A fourth contingent of Kenyan police arrived Thursday in Haiti to assist repel violent gangs as officers dismissed issues over a halt in some U.S. funding to the U.N.-backed mission.
The 200 cops from the East African nation be part of greater than 600 different Kenyans already working alongside Haiti’s National Police as a part of a multinational drive boosted by troopers and police deployed by nations together with Jamaica, Guatemala and El Salvador.
“We are reaching close to our full strength so the mission can start giving results,” Godfrey Otunge, the mission’s drive commander, stated as he greeted the brand new officers at Haiti’s most important worldwide airport, which stays closed to business flights due to ongoing gang violence.
The newest deployment of Kenyan police comes two days after the U.S. notified the United Nations that it was freezing $13.3 million slated for the mission as a part of a sweeping freeze on international help imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Otunge stated in a press release Wednesday that the quantity frozen represents lower than 3% of ongoing help to the mission.
“I want to assure everyone, especially the people of Haiti, that the mission remains on track,” he stated.
He famous that the U.S. and different accomplice nations are nonetheless offering logistical, monetary and gear help, with help flights arriving nearly every day.
“Both the Department of Defense and the Department of State remain actively engaged in (the mission’s) operations,” Otunge acknowledged.
The U.S. State Department stated it authorized waivers for $40.7 million in international help to assist the mission and Haitian police, together with contracts to help ahead working bases, medical companies and car upkeep.
It famous that as just lately as Tuesday, the U.S. delivered “much-needed heavy armored equipment” to the mission and Haitian police.
“The Haitian people need security,” stated Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as he pointed to a airplane on the tarmac. “This is all the equipment that we promised is coming in.”
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader warned Thursday during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Haiti represents a threat to the entire region, including the United States.
“There’s no time to lose,” he said as he called for more financial support for the mission. “Haiti is drowning.”
Abinader also called for more humanitarian aid to the violence-wracked country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, saying it would help relieve the ongoing crisis and halt a wave of migration that would affect the U.S. and other countries.
“There is no Dominican solution to the Haitian crisis,” he said. “The leadership of the United States is essential and irreplaceable.”
Rubio said the U.S. is committed to supporting the U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police and called for it to be broadened so it could effectively deal with gangs.
He said the issue of Haiti cannot be ignored.
“It’s a tragedy, it’s horrifying, and it needs to be dealt with. … We are going to help,” he said.
Rubio added, however: “I wish to be clear; the way forward for Haiti belongs to the individuals of Haiti.”
William O’Neill, U.N. designated knowledgeable on Haiti, stated Thursday that the mission performs a vital function in serving to native officers set up safety.
“The Haitian National Police are outnumbered and outgunned by the gangs,” he stated. “Steady and predictable funding for the (mission) requires all states to contribute, especially those in the region. More stability in Haiti will reduce the pressure to migrate, which is in everyone’s interest.”
Earlier, Rubio spoke with Kenyan President William Ruto to thank him for his nation’s management of the mission in Haiti, which stays absolutely operational, and Kenya’s function in selling peace within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The mission, which started final yr, is scuffling with a scarcity of funding and personnel as gangs that management 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, hold seizing extra territory.
An ongoing, weeklong assault in an upscale group close to the capital has killed some 150 individuals, Marie Yolène Gilles of the nonprofit Fondasyon Je Klere informed Magik9 radio station on Wednesday.
She stated greater than 100 houses additionally have been set on hearth.
The assault on Kenscoff that started Jan. 27 has left greater than 1,660 individuals homeless, based on the International Organization for Migration.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Follow AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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