US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Kenya on Thursday (December 4) for its role leading a gang suppression force in Haiti and called for more countries to contribute to bringing stability to the Caribbean nation.
Rubio’s call comes two months after the United Nations Security Council agreed to a US proposal to more than double the size of an 15-month-old underfunded and understaffed international security mission combating armed gangs in Haiti, sparking criticism of Washington by China and Russia.
Kenyan President William Ruto had previously said the 15-month-old Kenyan force – known as the Multinational Security Support mission – had been operating at only 40% of the expected strength of 2,500 security personnel.
The United States and Panama had put forward a resolution to transition the existing 15-month-old MSS mission into a new larger Gang Suppression Force supported by a new UN field office. The proposed new force would still rely on voluntary international contributions of personnel and funding, but the leadership structure would be different. It would be led by a group of representatives from countries that have contributed personnel, plus the United States and Canada.
Armed gangs have taken control of almost all of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in a conflict that has forced some 1.3 million people from their homes, and fueled famine-level hunger. UNICEF said in August that children make up an estimated 50% of gang members in the Caribbean country.
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