US-backed mission in Haiti struggles to take on gang violence

The U.S.-backed and Kenyan-led international police force that deployed to Haiti almost two months ago to defeat a powerful coalition of armed gangs has struggled to achieve its mission goals and restore order to the Caribbean nation.  

The 400 police troops sent in have yet to advance through the capital of Port-au-Prince to clear out armed gangs, and the only two major clashes so far have both resulted in setbacks.  

The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission remains underfunded, lacking the resources and necessary forces to bring Haiti back to normalcy, which has put pressure on the international community, along with the operation’s main sponsor, the U.S., to increase financial support. 

“This is not moving at the speed that I think everyone expected,” said Georges Fauriol, a senior adviser with the Latin America program at the U.S. Institute of Peace. “The MSS itself is sort of a three-legged vehicle that is missing a wheel, and everyone’s trying to figure out whether to rebuild the whole vehicle, or whether to stop and actually add another wheel.” 

Fauriol said Washington is focused on two other major global conflicts, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and that Republicans are resistant to sending more money to support the MSS, making it difficult to get more funding, especially during an election year. 

“Everyone is waiting for something more to happen from the United States,” he said, adding there’s a perception “the United States doesn’t want to get too engaged, [but] it’s misleading, because actually it is very much engaged.” 

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the military headquarters overseeing South America and the encompassing region, said they were delivering armored and unarmored vehicles, protective gear, riot-control gear and other supplies for MSS, the first of which arrived last month.

A spokesperson added that they would soon deliver Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles as well and stressed the MSS was a “long-term campaign” that requires sustained international support.

“It will take some time to achieve a level of operational success that reverses the current security crisis and restores lasting stability in communities that were previously exploited and victimized by ruthless gangs,” the SOUTHCOM spokesperson said, noting there has already been signs of progress such as a resumption of commercial flights.

Kenya’s mission is primarily to train and lead the Haiti National Police (HNP) to defeat the armed gangs.  

But the gangs’ coalition has only grown in strength after taking over much of Port-au-Prince earlier this year. The U.N.-backed MSS will need helicopters, combat vehicles, more infrastructure and other equipment and assets if it is to have any chance of success against the gangs, which are estimated to have between 5,000 and 10,000 members, mainly in and around Port-au-Prince.  

The MSS, which sent its initial forces to Haiti at the end of June, wants to deploy around 2,500 troops but will need more funding to bolster its ranks from the current 400. Besides Kenya, other countries plan to send forces, including the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica, but they are unlikely to jump in if there are not enough resources available. 

So far, fighting has been limited, with gang members largely unthreatened by the MSS, which is patrolling the city but has not engaged any strongholds. There are up to 200 gangs in Haiti, including the powerful 400 Mawozo. 

In July, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Kenyan troops took over the town of Ganthier near the Dominican Republic border, only for the gangs to take back the town when the MSS left. 

And when the Haitian acting prime minister, Garry Conille, traveled to a Port-au-Prince hospital in July, he was ambushed by gangs, forcing him to flee. 

Renata Segura, program director for Latin America and Caribbean at the International Crisis Group, said the gangs have forged strong alliances but are not united and do not have the training to stand up to a proper armed force. 

“The challenges of security needs are extraordinarily high, and even a fully funded and well-equipped mission still will have a very steep process to try and defeat the gangs,” she said. “But without the funds and without the amount of personnel that is required, then they don’t even have a chance.” 

Segura said the U.S. has already financed a lot of the MSS and that other countries, particularly in Europe, should step up if Washington can’t commit any more. 

Haiti has suffered from rampant gang violence since the assassination of its president in 2021. But the gangs have grown tremendously in power since uniting in February, freeing allies from prisons and forcing the resignation of the previous prime minister, Ariel Henry. 

Haiti is struggling to govern after the collapse of its government. A transitional council was formed over the spring, and Conille was appointed, but progress toward elections has derailed. 

Conille told BBC this month that it would be “extremely difficult” for elections to take place next year to elect a new president because the situation “has not evolved much.” 

“We’re still very much hostage to these thugs,” he said. 

The U.S. has provided more than $300 million for the mission, either in funding or equipment. And Kenyan troops are working out of a base built by U.S. contractors in Haiti. The only other major contributor is Canada, which has pledged some $86.2 million in direct MSS support. 

President Biden invited Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House in May, just weeks ahead of the deployment, and both leaders promised to break the backs of the gangs.

The MSS will need more than just money and more officers to solve the gang problem, said Robert Fatton Jr., a professor at the University of Virginia and a Haiti expert. 

Fatton said the eventual battles would be difficult, involving intense urban warfare. A strong Haitian government to support and boost the HNP and root out corruption would also be necessary, he added, pointing to allegations that some members of a transitional government in Haiti were involved in a bribery scheme.

“Adding 1,500 more troops, that might help. It might prevent further advances from the gangs, but the more you wait, the less legitimate is the government,” Fatton said. “The prime minister has promised all kinds of things, [but] his promises [have] not materialized at all.  

“He runs the risk of overpromising and to generate disenchantment, which probably will eventually occur again in greater instability,” he added. “So I’m not that optimistic, unless there is rightful change.” 

The potential for months of additional conflict has threatened to push Haiti, already in a precarious state, into further collapse. 

Humanitarian aid groups are scrambling to respond, but their efforts are complicated by the length of the crisis. Previous ordeals in Haiti, such as the 2010 earthquake, did not need major support for this long. 

Aid funding also remains far below limits. According to the United Nations, a budget request to the international community for $673 million is only 25 percent fulfilled. 

Thousands of people have been killed in the violence, more than half a million have been displaced from their homes and millions are facing severe food insecurity. There is also a rising threat of waterborne diseases such as cholera. 

And 131 children, an average of five a week, were killed in the first half of the year, according to the U.N., while some 3 million children need humanitarian aid. 

Gaby Breton, humanitarian director for Save the Children Haiti, said the problem is expected to grow worse unless the situation changes soon. 

“We really ask for international support, more solidarity for the kids of the future,” Breton said. “Since the hunger is there, it’s created a condition for gang recruitment, because vulnerability is at this high level.” 

Previous international missions to Haiti point to a potential blueprint for restoring order but have a marred record. 

Brazil, which led a U.N. peacekeeping deployment to Haiti from 2004 to 2017, had a force of some 13,000 troops at one point and managed to largely restore order. 

But the mission was criticized for spreading a cholera outbreak and because its peacekeepers committed sexual violence. The gangs also resurfaced when the mission ended. 

Erica James, professor of medical anthropology and urban studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, documented relief efforts in Haiti after the country fell to a coup in 1991.  

She said the cycle of violence and despair in Haiti goes back decades, and that while creating stability and peace was and remains important, it was also crucial to tackle the problem with long-term solutions like addressing the Caribbean nation’s national debt and intergenerational trauma.   

“It’s not just an issue of governance or establishing order. It’s also a question of, ‘How does a society both acknowledge and then also try to repair the harms of past?’” she said. “I feel for the Kenyan forces because they’re coming into a situation that is very, very different [and] much more complicated.”