KINGSTON, Jamaica, (CMC)  – A  21-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) Joint Task Force-Haiti (CJTF-H) relief team is being deployed to Haiti to support the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in that French-speaking Caricom country, where  a security and political crisis exists.

The United Nations (UN) Security Council in 2023 passed a resolution for the MSS  aimed at combating gang violence and restoring stability in the country. Criminal gangs are seeking to take complete control of the capital Port au Prince, and have launched several attacks, killing women and children among others.

The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) said that the relief team includes 18 JDF members and three members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and will continue the work started by the CJTF-H advance team that was deployed to Haiti in September 2024.

It said the initial advance team is returning home following the successful completion of its deployment to Haiti as part of the MSS.

According to the JDF, throughout its deployment, the Jamaican contingent played a strategic and operational role in supporting the MSS mandate. It said among the team’s most significant contributions was the delivery of essential intelligence and operational planning support to the MSS Headquarters, thereby helping to shape mission strategy and to execute coordinated security operations across Haiti.

“Our team performed with professionalism, courage, and unwavering discipline in one of the most challenging operating environments in the region. The threat level in Haiti is high and constant, but our personnel were highly motivated and undaunted. They contributed meaningfully to the development and execution of the MSS mission and represented Jamaica with distinction,” said Colonel Kevron Henry, who led the team.

“I cannot stress how hostile the environment was. The operational teams led by our Kenyan partners took heavy gunfire regularly and required significant logistical support,”  he said, noting that the JDF contingent  was vital to this function”as we were involved in the training of other deployed personnel, and in the maintenance of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), a critical asset in the MSS’s operational capabilities”

The JDF said the rotation of personnel reflects Jamaica’s long-term commitment to the MSS mission.

Apart from Jamaica, other Caricom countries which have pledged support for the MSS mission are Bahamas, Guyana, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.

The MSS Mission in Haiti, currently has 857 personnel deployed. The mission was initially planned to have 2,500 members, but has faced challenges with contributions from other countries.