Description: The leader of the transitional presidential council, Fritz Alphonse Jean, announce that 400 police officers would be dispatched to train alongside Brazil’s anti – gang units before being integrated into Kenya’s voluntary security mission in the country. Gang violence in Haiti has ravaged the country since 2021, while recent reports indicated that gangs control over 90% of the capital, Port au Prince, and are spreading their territorial control over other regions within the country. Last week, the government sent 150 soldiers to train with the Mexican army who would be also integrated within the Kenya – led mission after the completion of the three – month training cycle. Haiti’s gang violence has been connected to an attack conducted on the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos, where three men killed three civilians and injured 10 more with weapons suspected of being smuggled in from Haiti. The crisis in Haiti has so far resulted with more than 5 thousand casualties, while more than 1.3 million people have been displaced.
Impact: Haiti’s security forces training in Mexico and Brazil would considerably improve their operational capabilities as both south American countries have decades long experience in countering cartels and organized crime groups, which would eventually increase Haiti’s security capacities in countering the gang violence. The Kenya – led mission in the country remains poorly funded by the UN, which raises concerns over the longevity of the operation which is the only stopping force in preventing the Haitian gangs from consolidating more territorial control. The armed attack in the Turks and Caicos Islands sparks concerns over the gang’s financing operation which are facilitated by illegal arms trade and complete control over the economic system in the country’s capital. The spreading of the crisis towards remote parts of the Caribbean archipelago indicates that the gangs have solidified their position as a governing entity in the country with police and military forces lacking the capacities to tackle their dominance. The conflict and the humanitarian crisis would be further protracted in the absence of unified international intervention.