By REUTERS

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Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille vowed on Tuesday (June 25) at a press conference that the state will retake control of the country as a peacekeeping mission coming from Kenya recently arrived in the country.

The first contingent of Kenyan police arrived in the Haitian capital to launch a long-awaited peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country that has been ravaged by gang violence, even as deadly protests back home prompted doubts.

"The international force is here to support us and our police force," Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille said at a press conference, saying work to retake the country would begin "little by little."

The mission was first requested by Haiti's previous government in 2022. Support waned, leading to Conille's predecessor's resignation in early March. He had traveled to Nairobi to secure Kenyan support as violence escalated in Haiti.

"The state will regain power and reaffirm its authority so all Haitians can live peacefully in this country," Conille added.

The gang wars have now displaced over half a million people and nearly five million are facing severe food insecurity. Armed groups, which now control most of the capital, have formed a broad alliance while carrying out widespread killings, ransom kidnappings, and sexual violence.

But even as uniformed Kenyan police disembarked from a Kenya Airways plane with weapons in hand in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, police back in Nairobi opened fire on anti-tax hike demonstrators trying to storm the parliament, with at least five protesters killed and dozens wounded.

Though a Kenyan security source said the Nairobi violence was unlikely to disrupt plans to send more Kenyan police to Haiti, it has led some to question Kenya's ability to lead the security mission.

Aid groups expressed concern on Tuesday that armed groups in Haiti might respond forcefully to the mission, potentially catching children in the crossfire, including many recruited into gangs.

Previous missions in Haiti left behind slain civilians, a devastating cholera outbreak, and a sexual abuse scandal, for which reparations were not made.