Help at hand

For weeks, a 63-acre rural compound in Thomazeau, Haiti, once home to a school, church, farm, and medical clinic, has sat vacant. Bullet holes, smashed windows, and looted buildings testify to its violent history: A gang attack on the compound, run by the U.S.-based Christian charity LiveBeyond, sent hundreds of local staffers, students, and patients fleeing to the mountains.

Today, they operate out of makeshift houses, waiting until it’s safe to return.

About 20 miles south in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, the arrival of hundreds of armed, uniformed Kenyan police in late June brought some measure of hope. During a July 8 news conference, Godfrey Otunge, the Kenyan head of the multinational force, reiterated the officers’ commitment to working toward a “new Haiti.” “There’s no room for failure,” he said. Newly installed Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille told the UN Security Council on July 3 that the troops’ initial days proved “extremely positive.” The long-awaited U.S.-backed international police force is slated to grow to about 2,500 personnel, bolstering Haiti’s own beleaguered officers and helping pave the way for democratic elections in February 2026.

Help could not come soon enough for the Caribbean country of more than 11 million people overrun by warlords and spreading hunger. But past international intervention has come at a cost—and offered mixed results. In the gang-­riddled nation, the burden of expectation on a relatively small number of peacekeepers to stamp out escalating violence and corruption, let alone restore democratic norms, may prove too high.

Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the small force is just the beginning of what’s needed: “This is literally getting the toe in the water. It’s going to require significant investment in backstopping the local police and military … to deal with the gangs.”

David Vanderpool, LiveBeyond’s CEO and founder, also voiced skepticism. The security force “is a nice gesture,” he said, “but it will have no impact.”

In recent months, gunmen stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, set fire to police stations, and seized control of critical roads, fuel depots, and commercial ports. Gangs opened fire at the main international airport, causing it to close for nearly three months. Amid the coordinated attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned in April, and his Cabinet dissolved.

Residents flee their homes to escape clashes between armed gangs in Port-au-Prince. Associated Press/Photo by Odelyn Joseph

Now, the UN estimates gangs control about 60 percent of the country and 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. The conflict has left some 5 million people, half the country’s population, struggling to feed themselves, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

On May 25, four days after gunmen besieged the LiveBeyond compound in Thomazeau, two gangs attacked Missions in Haiti, a Christian orphanage in Lizon. They brutally murdered American missionary couple Davy and Natalie Lloyd and the group’s Haitian director, Jude Montis.

The attacks added to the desperation of American-based missionary groups in Haiti already struggling under the weight of travel, food, and supply constraints. The State Department in 2023 warned Americans not to travel to the country because of “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and poor health care infrastructure.” Gang violence has displaced more than 600,000 Haitians, half of whom are children, according to UNICEF, the UN children’s agency.

About 120 miles west of Port-au-Prince in Jérémie, Mark Stockeland of Haiti Bible Mission estimates up to 50,000 people have flooded the area in recent months. The region’s police force has kept gang activity there under better control. But venturing to and from Port-au-Prince—oftentimes a necessity for food and supplies—remains perilous, Stockeland said. Drivers face the threat of kidnapping and violence. At a minimum, gangs often force them to hand over large sums of money.

The mission’s staff are willing to accept the multinational troops’ presence if it lessens that threat. “Nobody wants them here … the only reason they’re OK with it is they don’t have a choice,” Stockeland said. “The downside is that we don’t want it to get out of hand.”

Two decades ago, UN peacekeeping forces arrived in the island nation after a coup ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 2010, sewage leaked from the troops’ base into a river, causing a cholera outbreak that killed 10,000 Haitians. Seven years later, the peacekeepers exited Haiti amid widespread reports of sexual and human rights abuses.

Due in part to that history, some U.S. lawmakers balked at funding the latest mission. The Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve $109 million for the security force. The U.S. military also offered assistance, sending more than 100 cargo planes full of construction supplies to help build a command center for the new police at the airport.

In a July 3 interview with NPR, Prime Minister Conille attempted to quell concerns about past abuses: “We’ve learned from these lessons,” he said. Haitian police will direct most operations involving the new officers, Conille added. Kenya pledged 1,000 officers while others hail from African and Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Chad. Conille insisted their mission will be “limited in scope.”

LiveBeyond’s Vanderpool was once a harsh critic of previous peacekeeping efforts. Today, he has a different perspective. He admits he failed to anticipate the way the gangs would proliferate: “Before, we were dealing with people with rusted revolvers. It was doubtful their guns would even fire.”

Today, warlords carry military-grade machine guns and drive armored vehicles, in many cases procured illegally from the United States, a 2023 UN report found. Gangs that once numbered in the hundreds have coalesced and amassed thousands of members.

Since the UN pullout in 2017 and the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, warlords have battled over territory. Killings, rapes, and kidnappings proliferated. Haiti requested the international peacekeeping force in 2022. Nearly a year later, the UN Security Council approved the Kenyan-led force.

In an effort to prevent the problems of prior years, officials wanted to keep the new peacekeeping force small. But David Vanderpool argues it’s too small: “The only hope for security [Haitians] have is a very large force of military-­trained individuals. … Anything less than that is really a disaster.”

Given their limited numbers, Mark Montgomery expects the peacekeeping force will focus on securing major points of departure such as the Port-au-Prince airport and the large commercial seaports, along with governmental buildings.

On June 25, the day the first batch of Kenyan troops arrived, Mark Stockeland flew into the airport in Port-au-Prince. He spent the night at a nearby hotel before heading to Jérémie in an armored vehicle. When he returned to the city a week later to travel back to the United States, Stockeland said troops had established a visible presence surrounding the airport: “It felt so much safer and better knowing they were there.”