With a number of financial and troop pledges already on the table from countries in and out of the region, Caribbean Community (Caricom) Chairman and Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that the Region itself will not shy away from making whatever financial contributions individual countries can afford.
During Monday’s closing press conference following intense discussions in Jamaica on resolving Haiti’s current crisis, President Ali fielded questions from regional and international press.
Caricom Chairman, President Dr Irfaan Ali, alongside other regional leaders during Monday’s closing press conference
One such question was what contributions the Region would be making to efforts to stabilise Haiti. This follows financial pledges that have come from countries, including the United States and Canada, and pledges of troops from a number of other countries.
“We have a small population within the Region. But one thing about this region is that we never shy away from our responsibility and participating and creating a better space within the Region. So, I’m sure that whatever is affordable within the constructs of our economies, our Region will make a contribution that we need to make,” Ali said.
Asked about timelines for deployment of the troops, President Ali noted that discussions on the security situation in Haiti were sensitive. He only ventured to say that they were in discussions with stakeholders and partners about what their contribution to the multinational force would be.
Among the countries that made pledges were the West African state of Benin, which pledged to send 2000 troops and Kenya, which pledged to dispatch 1000 Police Officers to Haiti since last year and has also offered to lead the multinational force to help restore order in Haiti.
Haitian PM Ariel Henry has announced his resignation
Meanwhile, the Bahamas has pledged 150 troops to the effort. Other countries such as Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad have formally informed the United Nations of their intent to send troops.
President Ali, meanwhile, denied that discussions had been held with the gangs in Haiti currently holding the country hostage. While he acknowledged that the gangs are part of Haitian society, they are actually one of the challenges that Haitian stakeholders, as well as regional and international partners, face in restoring order to Haiti.
“On the issue of gangs, the gangs make up part of the Haitian society. That is part of the challenge we have on the ground. Now, the idea of having normalcy is to allow the institutions the institutions to function. We could deal with some of the situations on the ground, which include the gangs,” the Caricom Chairman said.
“Of course, the present capacity and capability is compromised, because they don’t have the human resource asset, neither the physical asset, the equipment and so on. And that is what we’re working on. To support the transitional mechanism to support the issue of crime and gangs. The clear answer is that we had no engagement with any gang or gang leader. Or anything like that. To our knowledge… to the best of our combined knowledge.”
Resignation
Meanwhile, embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced his resignation, amid mounting pressure from a spiralling security breakdown and concerted efforts from Caricom, with the assistance of the international community, to broker a way forward.
Henry announced in a video broadcast on Monday that he was resigning once a Presidential Council was formed to help the country transition towards an elected government. His resignation came in the wake of several agreements between Caricom Heads and Haitian stakeholders, including for the establishment of this Council that would select a new interim Prime Minister.
In the video address, Henry, who is currently stranded in Puerto Rico due to the gang violence after flying out of the country to broker international assistance, called for calm to prevail. He further noted the need for Haiti to rebuild.
“My Government will leave immediately after the inauguration of the Council. We will be a caretaker Government until they name a Prime Minister and a new Cabinet… I’m asking all Haitians to remain calm and do everything they can for peace and stability to come back as fast as possible,” Henry said in his broadcast message.
The Presidential Council is expected to work with the new interim Prime Minister to establish a Government that, in collaboration with an electoral council, will guide the country towards elections. Importantly, no members of the Presidential Council will be allowed to run for office in future Haitian elections.
Henry was chosen by President Jovenel Moïse prior to his 2021 assassination as the replacement for his then Prime Minister,. While Henry’s resignation was predictably greeted with celebration by some, there remains much uncertainty in the country.
Additionally, Kenya’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Salim Swaleh was quoted by the New York Times as saying that his country’s contribution of 1000 Police Officers to Haiti was on hold following the PM’s resignation.
Earlier this month, Henry had travelled to Kenya and concluded an agreement with President William Ruto, for the Kenyan Police Officers to be deployed as part of the multinational force. While the agreement still stands, Kenya will require a new, functional Government to give effect to it. (G3)
