Kenyan soldiers arrive in Haiti as part of international peacekeeping mission

June 25 (UPI) -- Kenyan military forces, operating as part of a multinational security mission, arrived Tuesday in Haiti with "strong support" from the United States for its peacekeeping mission as rampant and deadly gang violence rips at the Caribbean nation.

"The people of Haiti deserve to feel safe in their homes, build better lives for their families, and enjoy democratic freedoms. Haiti's future depends on the return to democratic governance," President Joe Biden said Tuesday in an official statement .

A Kenya Airways plane landed Tuesday with an initial 400 Kenyan military personnel at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti's capital, Port-au- Prince , according to reports.

As gangs hinder access to critical supplies, nearly five million citizens of Haiti now face "severe" food insecurity as more than 7,500 people have so far been killed by gang violence since October 2022, the White House says. More than 500,000 Haitian civilians have been displaced, with reports of "widespread" gender-based violence.

"The Kenyans do not want to be one of these missions that show up on the ground and, for a month, they never leave their base," U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Dennis B. Hankins told The New York Times . "They want to be able to see quickly that they are making an impact."

The United Nations in March said immediate action was needed to end Haiti's "cataclysmic situation." But while mission goals may not be achieved overnight, Biden says this new effort will "provide the best chance of achieving them."

Then-embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti announced in March that he was resigning amid mounting pressure for him to do so as the capital of Port-au-Prince had been subsumed by gang violence at the time.

In an effort to quell the rising gang violence, Haiti's transitional council in April had named former youth and sports minister Fritz Belizaire as the Caribbean nation's new prime minister and Edward Leblanc Fils as president because conditions for a free-and-fair election did not exist at the time.

A handful of other countries, but not the neighboring Dominican Republic, have so far pledged personnel or financial support to the international mission on the island of Hispaniola, anticipated to grow to 2,500 personnel from other participating nations.

The Kenyan military forces arrived the same day that at least five were killed outside Kenya's parliament building, set on fire amid angry and violent protests over a tax bill where at least 13 were reportedly injured.

Hankins told the Times that among the first difficult choices ahead will be deciding to take control of the capital's central hospital or securing the port so much-needed supplies can get in. But while the Kenyan troops will be there to "support" Haitian police, the U.S. ambassador said, the international teams will not replace them so the eventual departure does not create "a security vacuum."

The United States will be the mission's biggest financial contributor, pledging more than $300 million and up to $60 million worth of equipment to help calm the chaotic nation, according to the White House.

Other Caribbean-based countries taking part in the Haiti mission will be Jamaica, the Bahamas, Belize, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Trinidad and Tobago. Led by Kenya, other African countries taking part in some form are Benin and Algeria, while European nations such as France, Germany, Britain and Spain will join Canada, Turkey, Bangladesh in the multinational undertaking.

According to the White House, this mission will support the Haitian National Police as they increase their anti-gang operations, "build their capacity to maintain public safety and ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those in need."

Meanwhile, the Biden administration added that "critically important" oversight and accountability measures have been put in place.

"And we will continue our diplomatic outreach to encourage more countries to join this effort," Biden said. "Because what happens in Haiti matters to its neighbors, the region and the world."

It comes not long after a couple, the daughter of a Missouri state lawmaker and her husband, were killed last month by Haitian gangs while on a mission trip to the battle-torn island nation as Americans fled the violence amid rising tensions.

"Haiti is an extraordinary country, and the people of Haiti deserve what people everywhere deserve: security, opportunity and freedom," Biden said in a prepared statement.