Kenya’s US-backed plan to send police to Haiti has hit another roadblock. Nairobi has halted the deployment of 1,000 officers following the resignation of unelected Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Kenya’s foreign ministry says it will decide what to do next after the installation of a new constitutional authority on the Caribbean Island.
It’s the latest in a string of obstacles facing the deployment, including a high court ruling that called it unconstitutional. Citizens of Haiti and Kenya have berated the operation as a Black mask used to cover American foreign policy and interests.
Previous interventions have been disastrous. The most infamous was the UN’s so-called stabilisation mission, MINUSTAH, between 2004-2017. It was blamed for the deaths of at least 10,000 Haitians from cholera after a sewage leak was traced back to a UN base. Dozens of its peacekeepers were also accused of wanton killings and sex crimes, including against children. With Kenyan police notorious for their brutality, it’s unclear how much better this proposed round of occupation would be for Haitians.
What’s more, while Haiti is portrayed as an island ruled by savage gangs, the trail of destruction left by Western policy is ignored. Apart from interventions failing to bring peace, we shouldn’t forget France made Haiti pay tens of billions of dollars for daring to free itself from slavery. Then, the US looted Haiti’s gold, removed popularly elected leaders and installed puppet dictatorships like that of Duvalier.
What country wouldn’t be unstable after such abuse of sovereignty?