The crisis of the Haitian government continues. Without a new government, sending a police mission will also be difficult. The UN warns of a famine.
Supply Shortage: Street Scene in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 12 Photo: Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters
NAIROBI/PORT-AU-PRINCE dpa | After the Haitian head of government announced his resignation, Kenya is delaying the promised deployment of police officers to the Caribbean country, according to media reports. From the point of view of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi, deployment as part of a planned multinational security mission will only be possible once Haiti returns to a government like the one it New York Times and the Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation reported on Tuesday.
Following talks in Jamaica, the Caribbean community of Caricom States announced on Monday (local time) the creation of a Haitian Transitional Presidential Council, which will determine a new interim government and pave the way for elections. Shortly afterwards, interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced that he would resign once the Council had elected his successor.
Henry took the reins of government shortly after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. There have been no elections since and the country has no president or parliament. When Henry announced a massive increase in fuel prices in 2022, there were huge protests and looting.
According to the United Nations, brutal gangs control about 80 percent of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. The two most powerful gangs joined forces at the end of February to demand Henry's resignation while the head of government was traveling abroad. He has not returned from there to this day; Henry is said to be currently in Puerto Rico. The trip took him, among other places, to Kenya, where on March 1 both countries agreed to send 1,000 Kenyan police to Haiti. A Kenyan court had previously declared the operation unconstitutional.
One of the worst food crises in the world.
The UN Security Council had already approved the support mission to the Haitian police in October. Kenya agreed to take the initiative. Benin, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad also pledged emergency services. At the Caricom meeting in Kingston, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken increased the commitment of US financial aid for the mission from $100 million to $300 million (about €274 million). However, so far only part of it has been released by the US Congress. According to a UN spokesperson on Monday, only $10.8 million was received to finance the operation.
The spokesperson also said the plan to address humanitarian needs in Haiti, which requires $674 million, is only 2.6 percent funded. According to United Nations estimates, almost half of the country's approximately 11 million people suffer from acute hunger. Haiti is experiencing one of the worst food crises in the world, said WFP Haiti country director Jean-Martin Bauer. “1.4 million Haitians are one step away from famine.”
The UN organization fears that the already insufficient humanitarian aid efforts could be paralyzed because the poor security situation makes access to the population difficult, but also because financial resources are running out. Welthungerhilfe also called on international donors to increase humanitarian funding for Haiti.