Jamaican soldiers and police arrive in Haiti to help combat gangs

On September 13, 2024, news from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Twenty-four soldiers and police from Jamaica arrived in Haiti on Thursday to join the Kenyan-led and United Nations-backed operation to combat Haiti's powerful gangs.

Jamaica becomes the second country to join the operation. This operation was approved by the United Nations Security Council in October 2023, and the operation officially started when the first batch of Kenyan police arrived in Haiti at the end of June. According to the Belize government, two senior military officers from the Central American country of Belize also arrived with the Jamaicans. The U.S. Coast Guard revealed that one of its planes transported the Jamaicans and Belizeans to Haiti.

Earlier this week, Jamaican authorities announced the upcoming deployment and noted that these twenty soldiers and four police officers will be responsible for providing command, planning, and logistical support. They will work together with Haiti's army and police to combat the gangs that control 80% of the area of Port-au-Prince. Jamaica had promised to send a total of 170 soldiers and 30 police officers, but Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that they cannot be deployed all at once.

The Jamaicans were deployed to Haiti as the United States warned that the Kenyan-led operation lacks resources. The United States said it is considering a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the hope of obtaining more funds and personnel. The United States and Ecuador recently circulated a draft resolution calling on the United Nations to begin planning a United Nations peacekeeping operation to replace the current operation, but experts believe that the United Nations Security Council is unlikely to approve the draft. The current operation is expected to have a total of 2,500 personnel. The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, and Chad have also promised to send police and soldiers, but the specific deployment time is still unknown.