First Bahamian Military Personnel Arrive in Haiti for Multinational Mission

The first six Bahamian soldiers, who are part of the country's force participating in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti, arrived in Port-au-Prince on Friday, reinforcing this operation in the country devastated by armed gangs.

The contingent arrived in the Haitian capital on board a plane from a company in the Bahamas, a country that promised to send 150 soldiers last August.

Upon arrival at Port-au-Prince international airport, the soldiers were greeted by, among others, officials from the Haitian National Police.

The mission of this contingent is to carry out field studies to see how they can contribute to strengthening security in Haiti.

Although the multinational mission, led by Kenya and authorized by the UN, began to deploy to Haiti last June, the violence has not stopped and the armed gangs have taken over more territory.

The first to arrive in Haiti were 400 Kenyan agents, who were later joined by troops from Jamaica and Belize, and the mission is expected to reach 2,500 members.

Kenyan President William Ruto recently announced that an additional 600 Kenyan police officers will be deployed to the Multinational Security Support Mission next month.

In October 2023, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of a mission to support the Haitian National Police, in response to a request made a year earlier by the Caribbean country’s authorities to address violence by armed gangs.

According to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), some 3,900 casualties, including deaths and injuries, were recorded in the first half of this year, after some 8,000 deaths in 2023.

Several international and Haitian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) this week issued an urgent appeal to the international community to increase funding for Haiti and ensure safe humanitarian access in the face of increasing extreme hunger in the country.

The situation is compounded by violence and a worsening security crisis in the country, where 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is controlled by armed gangs and food prices have skyrocketed.

These groups also control roads to and from the north and south of Haiti, preventing farmers from delivering goods and non-profits from providing aid.

While much of the hunger is directly linked to gang violence, double-digit inflation has also limited what many Haitians can afford to buy, with food now accounting for 70% of total household expenses.

In addition, parts of Haiti are still struggling to recover from the August 2021 earthquake, several bouts of drought and Hurricane Matthew, which hit the country as a Category 4 storm in 2016.