Kenya has sent more than 200 police officers to Haiti, providing backup to an understaffed security mission in the Caribbean country, where rampant gang violence has displaced more than a million people.
Some 10 countries have together pledged over 3,100 troops for Haiti as part of a UN-backed anti-gang force, but few have so far deployed.
Kenya’s Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen revealed in a statement that the new group comprised 217 police from Kenya, who would join about 400 officers sent last year.
The gangs have terrorised Haiti for years in their attempts to take control of the country, leading to thousands of deaths and mass displacements.
Kenya has led the effort to staff the Multinational Security Support Mission, originally promising to deploy a total of 1,000 people.
However, Reuters news agency reported last month that nearly 20 people in the initial deployment submitted letters of resignation from the anti-gang mission due to pay delays and poor conditions.
The MSS in Haiti, which is led by top Kenyan police officers, said in response that its offers had received their salaries, and that it had not received resignations.
The nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Jamaica and Belize have also deployed officers to the anti-gang effort.
