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Chad plans to deploy 800 police officers and gendarmes to Haiti this year as part of a United Nations-backed international effort to combat the country’s powerful armed gangs.
According to a senior Chadian official, the personnel are expected to arrive by June following specialised training from “European and American partners.”
This marks a significant scaling up of the international presence in Haiti, which has struggled to contain widespread gang violence and institutional instability.
The deployment will join the newly formed Gang Suppression Force, a larger successor to the previous Kenyan-led mission.
Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez recently indicated that this international force is projected to reach its full capacity of 5,500 personnel by October.
While some confusion arose regarding the location of the training—with U.S. officials clarifying that the Chadian troops are not being trained on American soil—the U.S. State Department expressed formal gratitude to Chad for its pledged contribution to the mission.
Despite these ambitious targets, the mission has faced delays in reaching its intended strength.
Currently, the force consists primarily of Kenyan police alongside smaller contingents from Caribbean and Central American nations.
Chad first expressed its willingness to support the mission in late 2023, and its upcoming deployment is seen as a critical step in providing the Haitian National Police with the reinforcements needed to reclaim territory from criminal organisations.
