First Anniversary of MMAS in Haiti: ORDEDH Denounces Security Failure and Calls for a Change of Course

PORT-AU-PRINCE — June 25, 2025, marks the first anniversary of the deployment of the first contingent of Kenyan police officers in Haiti, as part of the Multinational Security Support (MMAS) Mission. One year later, the Order of Human Rights Defenders (ORDEDH) presents a damning assessment and demands an urgent strategic reorientation. An alarming security assessment According to ORDEDH, the MMAS has failed to improve the security situation; on the contrary, it appears to have worsened it. Areas previously under control, such as Solino, Nazon, Champs de Mars, Carrefour-Feuilles, La Chapelle, Kenscoff, Route de l'Aéroport, Mirebalais, and Saut-d'Eau, are now dominated by armed gangs. This territorial expansion of criminal groups has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. The organization also highlights a resurgence of homicides since the arrival of the MMAS, with more than a dozen massacres perpetrated in its presence. Furthermore, over a hundred state institutions in Port-au-Prince have been forced to relocate due to increasing insecurity. Criticism of collaboration with the HNP ORDEDH deplores the lack of coordination between the MMAS and the Haitian National Police (HNP). High-ranking HNP officers criticize the attitude of the Kenyan forces, accusing them of passivity in the face of gang violence. This lack of synergy compromises efforts to restore public order and secure vital infrastructure. Call for a strategic overhaul In light of this assessment, ORDEDH calls for a thorough review of the MMAS strategy. The organization insists on the need for close collaboration with the HNP, strengthening operational capabilities, and strategic planning adapted to the realities on the ground. Without these adjustments, the mission risks continuing to fail in its objective of stabilizing the country. From professional secrecy to opaque communication ORDEDH draws attention to the mission command's opaque attitude, citing the death, under troubling circumstances, of a Kenyan police officer in Artibonite, whose body was reportedly held by armed gangs. “The fact that Kenyan and Haitian authorities had to negotiate with criminals to recover the victim's body constitutes a national humiliation and raises serious questions about the mission's operational capacity and actual effectiveness,” denounces the Order, while firmly condemning the MMAS's silence on this episode. “The lack of communication surrounding this incident fuels suspicion and gives the impression of an unacknowledged 'state secret,'” the organization continues. ORDEDH's urgent appeal The Order of Human Rights Defenders demands an urgent rectification of the MMAS, with clear, coherent, and well-defined missions. It calls for total transparency in the management of resources allocated to the mission, to avoid any risk of embezzlement or money laundering, and to ensure efficient use of available means. The organization calls on the international community to transform the MMAS into an official UN-backed peacekeeping mission, endowed with a more robust mandate, taking into account the scale of current challenges. It emphasizes that the mission's failure also falls on the international community, which persists in using Haiti as a laboratory for strategic experiments that are often ineffective, if not counterproductive. “The Haitian people deserve a concrete, serious, and lasting response to the security crisis — not improvised solutions that only worsen their suffering,” concludes ORDEDH.