Kenyan cops crucial to controlling gangs, early days are positive: Haiti PM

Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that recently deployed Kenyan police will be crucial to helping control the country's gangs and moving toward democratic elections and he called feedback from their initial days in the capital "extremely, extremely positive".

He said his government will focus on addressing gang violence and food insecurity, ensuring free elections through constitutional and political reform, and rebuilding public trust in the police.

On June 25, the initial contingent of 200 Kenyan police arrived in Port-au-Prince. Kenya has pledged 1,000 police to the international police force and Conille said the next contingent will be arriving very soon. They will later be joined by police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica in the force that will total 2,500 personnel.

Haiti asked for an international force to combat gangs in 2022, and UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres appealed for months for a countr