By Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland
PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 1 (Reuters) – A new leader of the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF) arrived in Haiti on Wednesday together with an advance deployment of troops from the Central African nation of Chad, the GSF said in a statement on social media.
Jack Christofides, a South African U.N. official who has overseen various peacekeeping operations in Africa, was appointed as Special Representative of the GSF late last year.
The GSF did not say how many people were in the advance team, nor if Kenyan forces already on the ground would begin to withdraw as previously reported.
Neither the GSF nor Haiti’s national police immediately responded to requests for comment.
Christofides was tasked to work with the GSF’s Force Commander Godfrey Otunge to develop a strategic plan, oversee accountability, coordinate with donors and partners and keep the U.N. Security Council abreast of developments.
The force was initially approved to help Haitian security forces fight off powerful gangs, armed with weapons believed to be largely trafficked from the U.S. The first contingents of the Kenyan-led force did not deploy until the following June.
As of early this year, less than 1,000 troops – mostly Kenyan with smaller numbers of Central American and Caribbean personnel – were in Haiti.
This was under 40% of the force’s initial goal and less than 20% of the larger target of some 5,500 troops approved last year.
The U.N. has said the GSF should begin deploying from April and reach full numbers by summer, or fall at latest. The GSF’s mandate is due to expire at the end of September 2026, though the U.N. Security Council may renew it for another year.
Chad has pledged 800 troops, but it is unclear which other countries might contribute personnel.
Since the first Kenyan contingents arrived in 2024 under the prior model known as the MSS, more than 800,000 more people have fled their homes as gangs cement their grip on the capital and expand to other regions in the Caribbean’s most populous nation.
Some 12% of the population is now internally displaced, over 1.4 million people.
The MSS – which was also reliant on voluntary contributions – suffered from chronic underfunding, as well as lack of troops and reliable equipment.
(Reporting by Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Natalia Siniawski)
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