Seventy Canada’s Armed Forces members have been deployed to Kingston Jamaica on March 29th 2024. Their mission is to train the international security force due to be deployed to Haiti in order to help the country’s National Police quell escalating large-scale gang violence there.
Under a United Nation Security Council resolution adopted in October 2023, Operation HELIOS led by Canada will see more than three hundred troops contributed by the caribbean nations of Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas receive specialized training. Under this UN-mandated training program scheduled to last for a month, troops will receive specialized training such as the protection of civilians, conduct and discipline, and conflict-related sexual violence along with the essential peacekeeping and combat first-aid skills required for Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission.
Relying on the Operating Support Hub (OSH) Canada has established in Kingston, Jamaica since 2016, the Canadian Armed Forces are able to speedily orchestrate the logistical support needed for standing up such emergency relief missions. The seventy-members team selected for Operation HELIOS belong to the 1st Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment based in Valcartier, Quebec which has extensive experience in international security mission.
Accompanying the troops from CARICOM, one thousand policemen from Kenya are actually to take the lead in helping the Haitian National Police gain grounds against the gangs which are said to be controling up to 80% of Haiti’s capital Port-Au-Prince.
According to the Canada’s Armed Forces official announcement, as part of the $123 million that have been pledged by Canada in support of Haiti, some $80.5 million have been earmarked for a United Nations trust fund for the deployment of the Kenyan troops