Jamaica Joins UN-Backed Haiti Mission

Jamaica has begun deploying a small contingent of 24 security personnel to Haiti to support a UN-backed mission led by Kenya in combating violent gangs. Opposition spokesman Peter Bunting criticized the deployment as insufficient and merely symbolic, arguing that a much larger force is necessary for meaningful impact. The Jamaican forces, consisting of 20 soldiers and 4 police officers, will focus on providing command, planning, and logistics support. They join nearly 400 Kenyan officers already in Haiti, but concerns remain about the mission's scale and funding. Prime Minister Andrew Holness emphasized that this is just the beginning of Jamaica's commitment, with additional personnel to be deployed as the mission scales up. The mission aims to restore stability in Haiti, where armed gangs control significant portions of the capital and have displaced hundreds of thousands of people.