UN-backed contingent of foreign police arrives in Haiti - AP explains

(25 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Juan, Puerto Rico - 25 June 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Dánica Coto, Associated Press:
"Shortly before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a couple hundred police officers from Kenya arrived in Port-au-Prince, marking the fourth major foreign intervention in Haiti. It's not immediately clear what their mission will be, but they do face gangs that control more than 80% of Haiti's capital and have driven more than half a million people from their homes in recent years in their quest to control more territory. The arrival of the Kenyans comes nearly two years after former Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested an urgent and immediate help to fight gangs. Since then, gang violence has only surged. On February 29th, gangs launched coordinated attacks. They opened fire on the main international airport, forcing it to remain closed for nearly three months. They also stormed more than two dozen police stations and Haiti's two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. It's not immediately clear how gangs will react to the new mission. But in a recent video, former elite police officer Jimmy Cherizier, best known as 'Barbecue' and leader of one of Haiti's most powerful gang federations, addressed new Prime Minister Garry Conille and suggested the possibility of dialogue".

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 25 June 2024
2. Various of plane landing at the Toussaint Louverture International airport
3. Plane parked on the tarmac

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 19 March 2024
4. Various of armed gang members running

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 4 March 2024
5. Airport control tower under construction, people running away UPSOUND shots
6. Various of people running away from area, as shots are heard

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 19 March 2024
7. Gang leader Jimmy Chérizier, also known as 'Barbecue', raising arms to the crowd
8. 'Barbecue' walking and dancing ahead of the protesters
STORYLINE:
The first U.N.-backed contingent of foreign police arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, nearly two years after the troubled Caribbean country urgently requested help to quell a surge in gang violence.

A couple hundred police officers from Kenya landed in the capital of Port-au-Prince, whose main international airport reopened in late May after gang violence forced it to close for nearly three months.

It wasn’t immediately known what the Kenyans’ first assignment would be, but they will face violent gangs that control 80% of Haiti’s capital and have left more than 580,000 people across the country homeless as they pillage neighbourhoods in their quest to control more territory.

Gangs also have killed several thousand people in recent years.

The Kenyans’ arrival marks the fourth major foreign military intervention in Haiti.

While some Haitians welcome their arrival, others view the force with caution, given that the previous intervention — the U.N.’s 2004-2017 peacekeeping mission — was marred by allegations of sexual assault and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people.

An estimated 1.6 million Haitians are on the brink of starvation, the highest number recorded since the devastating 2010 earthquake, according to the U.N.

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