Several Kenyan police officers are said to have backed out of Haiti Deployment Deal after the situation worsened in the Caribbean country.
According to reports, the police officers have cited concerns after the Haiti gangs intensified their attacks on the government’s institutions making it a danger zone for the officers.
1000 police officers were set to be deployed by the kenyan government following a deal by President William Ruto and Haiti Prime Minister. However, most of the officers who had initially volunteered have backed out.
Also Read: Haiti Gang Sends Warning To Prime Minister In Kenya After Deal With Ruto
In an interview with BBC, one officer highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the mission’s execution plans, expressing uncertainty about the mechanisms put in place as another officer stated that he and his squad withdrew from the mission, which was not a mandatory deployment.
This comes after criminal gangs in Haiti intensified their actions after the Haiti Prime Minister flew to kenya to broker a deal for the Deployment of 1000 Kenyan police officers after which, they threatened the PM not to return to the country.
The gangs in Port-au-Prince, further taking advantage of Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s absence, unleashed a series of coordinated attacks, rendering more people homeless as they scampered for safety.
President William Ruto has vowed to send police officers to Haiti while defending his decision to deploy the troops to the disturbed country, that the two countries share the same origin.
“We are offering the experience and expertise of our police officers in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti as mandated by the United Nations Security Council and as guided by our courts.”
However, it’s unclear how many officers are willing in the voluntary mission and how many have backed out so far due to the rise of aggressive attacks by the gangs in Haiti.