Haiti - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Kenya’s mission to Haiti: how the 1,000-strong force is preparing for planned intervention

KENYA has temporarily halted controversial plans to send a specially trained contingent of 1,000 police officers to Haiti, where armed gang violence recently took a turn for the worse. After a visit to Nairobi in early March where he signed terms for Kenya’s deployment, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to resign as gangs took control of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. In the absence of a government in Haiti, plans to deploy Kenyan troops are on hold. Oscar Gakuo Mwangi, who studies radicalisation and counter-terrorism in Kenya, takes a look at Kenya’s preparedness to take on Haiti’s urban gangs.…

Mar

2024

By SARAH MORLAND

Haiti’s prime minister Ariel Henry resigned. Who will replace him?

WORLD

HAITI'S embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation, effective once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed. HOW DID HENRY RESIGN? A U.S. official said the decision for Henry's resignation was made on Friday, though he did not officially tender it to his cabinet until Monday evening and later issued an official video address. Henry had traveled to Kenya in late February to secure support for an international security mission to fight Haiti's powerful armed gangs, but violence in the capital escalated during his absence and left him stranded in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Widespread protests have…

Mar

2024

By SARAH MORLAND, HAROLD ISAAC and VALENTINE HILAIRE

Haiti’s neighbours prepare for ‘drastic escalation’ in violence after jailbreak

WORLD

HAITI'S neighbours began shoring up their defences and recalling embassy staff as a gang conflict in the Caribbean nation escalated and thousands fled fresh fighting. On Sunday, Haiti's de facto government issued a 72-hour state of emergency and imposed nightly curfews after armed men busted thousands from prison and a gang leader called for the ousting of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and last year deported tens of thousands of Haitians, said on Monday that its defence minister was touring the border to supervise progress on a border fence, while the president ruled out…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s parliament approves police deployment to Haiti

NEWS

KENYAN lawmakers voted to support a request to deploy hundreds of police officers to Haiti in a U.N.-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle gang violence. In July, Kenya pledged to offer 1,000 police officers after Haiti appealed for international help with security personnel to assist in its battle against gangs blamed for spiralling violence. But in early October an opposition party went to court and got an order suspending the deployment. It claimed the plan did not involve public participation and was also unconstitutional because only the military could be deployed outside the country. Parliament's deputy speaker…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya court extends bar on deploying police to Haiti, lawyer says

NEWS

A Kenyan court extended a temporary order barring the government from deploying hundreds of police officers to Haiti in a U.N.-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle gang violence, a lawyer who filed the case said. Following an appeal for assistance from Haiti, Kenya in July offered to send 1,000 officers to help restore security amid a worsening crisis in which gangs have forced around 200,000 people to flee their homes. But the plan was temporarily put on hold by a court order issued after a petition was brought by the small opposition party Thirdway Alliance, arguing the…

Sep

2023

By MICHELLE NICHOLS

At UN, Kenya’s president asks world not to leave Haiti behind

NEWS

KENYAN President William Ruto urged the United Nations Security Council to formally back a security support mission to Haiti, which Kenya has shown a willingness to lead, saying the Caribbean country "deserves better from the world." The council could vote as soon as next week, diplomats said, on a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a multinational police deployment. Haiti last year asked for help to combat violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital Port-au-Prince. "Kenya is ready to play its part in full, and join with a coalition of other nations of goodwill - and there are many - as a great friend and true…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Women sports leaders celebrated

SPORT

LORI EWING FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura has applauded the eight nations who are debuting at the Women's World Cup, urging the players to take pride in their ability to inspire. Haiti, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia will debut at the global women's soccer showcase that runs from July 20-August 20 in Australia and New Zealand. "Seeing you ladies who are mothers, sisters, students and athletes. Women they identify with, excelling on the pitch," Samoura said in a statement. "This will encourage a generation of young girls and women to aim high, to aim big. To advocate…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

In Haiti, COVID pandemic rages amid political crisis

WORLD

DAVID ALIRE GARCIA LAYING on her side in a sleeveless peach-coloured dress, an elderly patient groaned as she gasped for air in one of the Haitian capital's few medical units equipped to care for those hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The 81-year-old wore a clear plastic mask on her face attached to a metal tank providing 21 liters of oxygen per minute, the maximum reserved for the most serious COVID-19 cases at St. Luke's Hospital on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. "Each breath she takes, every respiratory movement, is very painful," said Dr Nathalie Colas, the hospital's medical director, on…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Could genealogy websites help catch aid worker sex abusers

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

EMMA BATHA TECHNOLOGY that helped catch a U.S. serial murderer, dubbed the Golden State Killer, could be used to track down aid workers who sexually abuse girls and women overseas, according to the team behind a groundbreaking project in the Philippines. In abuse cases which result in pregnancy, scientists say DNA could be taken from the child with the mother's consent and uploaded to a genealogy database to trace the father. The technology has been made possible by the popularity of commercial genealogy services which now hold DNA data on millions of people keen to explore their ancestry. "I'm really…