Experts warn that foreign armed forces will face major obstacles

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP):

An international armed force, slated to fight violent gangs in Haiti this year, will face multiple challenges, including shifting gang allegiances and widespread corruption among police, politicians and the country’s elite, a new report warned Friday.

The multinational force, which will be led by Kenya, has yet to be deployed as it awaits a court ruling in the east African country. If given the green light, a small team of Kenyans is expected to arrive in Haiti early this year, with a total of up to 5,000 personnel eventually participating in the mission.

Burundi, Chad, Senegal, Jamaica and Belize also have pledged troops for the multinational mission.

“Major challenges lie in wait for the mission, once it is on the ground,” the report by Belgium-based International Crisis Group stated. “Haiti’s gangs could ally to battle it together. Fighting in Haiti’s ramshackle urban neighborhoods will put innocent civilians at risk. Links between corrupt police and the gangs could make it difficult to maintain operational secrecy. For all these reasons, preparation will be of critical importance.”

“The police are completely outnumbered and outgunned by the gangs,” said Diego Da Rin, with International Crisis Group, who spent nearly a month in Haiti late last year to do research for the report.

He said the people he interviewed were very skeptical that the force would even be deployed, given that it was approved by the UN Security Council last October, a year after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested the urgent mobilisation of an international armed force.

International Crisis Group also warned that authorities need to determine what will happen to gang members as the forces carry out their mission. It noted that prisons are severely overcrowded, and that Haiti’s broken judicial system will be unable to handle thousands of cases, once suspected criminals are arrested.