The US-backed government in Haiti and Kenyan military forces continue to lose territory to gangs and paramilitaries in Port-au-Prince. The inability to restore order is leading Haitians to demand a new government.
According to a report from Human Rights Watch, the Haitian government now only controls 10% of the capital city. “Haiti’s security situation is in a free fall and Haitians are suffering horrific abuses,” said Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at HRW.
The Haitian government has struggled to control Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Following his murder, the US supported the rise of Ariel Henry as leader in Port-au-Prince.
Henry proved to be an ineffective prime minister, leading large numbers of Haitians to flee to the US as gangs took over more of the capital. In response, Washington sought a third country to deploy military forces to Haiti to retake control from the gangs.
While the Biden administration struggled for over a year to find a nation willing to deploy soldiers to Haiti, Kenya agreed to send troops in 2023 in exchange for US financial support, as well as Nairobi being named a Major Non-NATO Ally.
Henry’s consent to the Kenyan deployment eventually led to his ouster, with the US then creating a transnational government with Garry Conille as the new prime minister.
Kenyan soldiers began arriving in Haiti in the second half of 2024 with the goal of transferring power to Connille’s government, planning to have about 2,500 troops in the country by the start of 2025. At the beginning of the mission, gangs and paramilitaries were estimated to hold 80% of Port-au-Prince.
The US does not have soldiers operating with the Kenyans in Haiti, but provides funding, training, and equipment. That support for the Kenyan proxy force in Haiti has continued during the Trump administration.
According to HRW, the inability of the Haitian government and Kenyan soldiers to retake control has led to the creation of vigilante groups and a spike in violence. HRW estimated that there were 262 murders in Haiti from late January to March of this year.
The opposition groups are now pushing into middle- and upper-class areas of Port-au-Prince, and protests are emerging demanding a new government. An aid worker explained to HRW that the deteriorating situation has left Haitians struggling to survive.
“People no longer have a safe place to flee to,” the aid worker said. “Women who come here seeking help have not only lost loved ones, but have also been raped, displaced and left on the streets, starving and struggling to survive.”
As desperation sets in, the Conille government is resorting to drone strikes to try to turn back the gangs, which have threatened to conduct their own explosive UAV attacks in response. “The transitional government – with three of its members implicated in corruption – established a task force in early March to fight criminal groups, launching drone strikes with explosive munitions without accountability for abuses,” the HRW report continued, adding that “Criminal leaders have also threatened to deploy this technology.”
