More Kenyan Police Arrive In Haiti To Shore Up Security Mission After US Funding Limbo

More than 100 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti’s capital on Thursday to reinforce a security mission whose future has been in limbo, after the U.S. froze some funding before passing a waiver to unlock a separate batch of funds.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from Santo Domingo alongside Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, acknowledged that the current mission, backed by the United Nations, was not enough to solve the current crisis.

“The solution for Haiti is in the hands of the Haitian people, in the hands of the Haitian elite,” Rubio said. “But we will help, we cannot ignore the problems there.”

A new contingent of 144 Kenyan police officers was sent to Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday to join the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission aimed at combating gang violence in the Caribbean nation.

The security mission, approved by the U.N. Security Council but not led by the U.N., has struggled to make headway in fighting gangs as its numbers remain far under target and it relies on voluntary contributions from member nations.

A contingent of 144 Kenyan soldiers touched down in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, with Kenyan President William Ruto adding he had spoken to Rubio about the mission.

The move threw the already-shaky mission into limbo, with Haitians worried it would be shuttered altogether.

The State Department later said that Rubio had approved waivers on $40.7 million in foreign assistance to the Haitian National Police and the security mission.

That assistance will not, however, go into the dedicated U.N. fund, a State Department spokesperson said.

Rubio said the U.S. would not ask Dominican President Abinader to accept an influx of Haitian migrants.

Rubio will also sign a waiver to unlock funds for foreign aid programs in the Dominican Republic, he said.

(Reuters)