The Voice se demande si : La mission du Kenya en Haïti, une aide de l'Afrique ou une couverture de l'impérialisme US ?

Strategy

Activists such as Guerline Jozef argue that, geopolitically speaking, the security operation is more of a strategy by the United States to use other countries to conduct overseas missions to serve its interests while avoiding the stigma and label of imperialism. Jozef argues that many Haitians see this as the United States using Kenya as Blackface to enact its agenda.

Haitians are generally tired of foreigners coming in to run their country. Between 2004 and 2017, the UN had sent over 5,000 troops from Brazil who notably attacked supporters of the recently exiled Aristide.

In 2010, following the devastating earthquake, UN-backed troops were responsible for a cholera outbreak due to troops defecating in clean water sources used by Haitians leading to the deaths of over 10,000 Haitians and outbreaks continue to this day.

Questions

UN-backed interventions during this period have been responsible for a series of extrajudicial murders, rape and sexual violence against women and children. This is of particular concern for Haitians because there have been reports of Kenyan troops stationed in Somalia being accused of various human rights violations of which Ruto has not addressed.

In addition, Kenyan troops have been known to open fire on demonstrators in Kenya, and there are questions about how adequate their training will be for ensuring that the dignity and human rights of Haitians is respected.

Many Haitians believe these Kenyan security forces will serve the same purpose as the Brazilian forces 19 years ago, which is to protect certain multinational assets from increasing instability while not doing anything to protect and improve the lives of the Haitian people. While there are some Kenyans and Haitans who welcome any sort of intervention to help a country that has suffered so much, it is understandable there are concerns about this intervention.

There are still many questions to consider such as why has the African Union not given weight to Kenya’s Pan-African intervention. Haiti does need help but is it getting the assistance that Haitians want, or is this the latest in a long history of exploitation that will leave the country trapped in the same cycle of poverty and underdevelopment?