Kenya to lead UN-approved force to Haiti where gangs terrorize population

Kenya will lead an international force tasked with bringing order back in Haiti, a country where gangs are responsible for a surge in killings, rapes, and kidnappings.

Kenya has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. Countries including Jamaica also have pledged to send personnel.

The 15-member UN council approved Monday(Oct. 03) the resolution drafted by the US. The Russian Federation and China abstained.

"Today, the UN Security Council made history in authorizing the multinational security support Mission to Haiti. We have stepped up to create a new way of preserving global peace and security,"  the acting U.S. ambassador for special political affairs.

"Answering the repeated calls of a member state facing a multidimensional crisis amid alarming spiraling gang violence," Jeffrey DeLaurentis, added.

"With participation from countries all over the world and with much thanks to Kenya for positively considering leading the international community can now move forward with a multinational security support mission for Haiti."

Last month, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden promised to provide logistics and $100 million to support the Kenyan-led force.

The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for an initial one-year period with a review after nine.

The vote came nearly a year after Haitian Prime Minister and top government officials requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force as the authorities struggled to supress gang violence.

The deployment of an armed force is expected to restore peace and security to Haiti so it the PM can orginze long-awaited general elections that he's repeatedly promised after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Haiti lost its last democratically elected institution in January after the terms of 10 remaining senators expired, leaving not a single lawmaker in the country's House or Senate.

The Security Council also expanded a U.N. arms embargo to include all gangs. 

From January 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent U.N. statistics.

International intervention in Haiti doesn't bring back good memories to all Haitians. A U.N.-approved stabilization mission to Haiti that started in June 2004 was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera. The mission ended in October 2017.

Critics of Monday's approved Kenyan-led mission also have noted that police in the east Africa country have long been accused of using torture, deadly force and other abuses.