By Jérôme Wendy Norestyl, Ayibopost, April 20, 2026
This new force comes at a time when the previous Multinational Security Support Mission was facing major challenges: lack of funding, logistical delays, and political instability.
The Gang Repression Force (FRG) will cover all ten departments of the country, with priority given to the West, Artibonite and the Center, according to a senior foreign official involved in the mission, contacted by AyiboPost.
This new force comes at a time when the previous Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) was facing major challenges: lack of funding, logistical delays and political instability.
The Standing Group of Partners, a coalition including the United States, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Canada and Haiti, will lead this new international mission.
Around ten countries such as Chad, Sri Lanka, Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Zambia are expected to deploy their troops to complete the ranks of the new force.
Nearly 80% of its personnel, estimated at 5,500 members, will be military. According to a senior mission official, its mandate has also been expanded compared to the one led by Kenya.
The FRG can conduct independent operations in Haiti.
As soon as she has information on the ground, she will be able to intervene without going through the Haitian National Police.
Members of the Force can work with the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd'H), as well as with the National Police of Haiti (PNH).
Permanent installations are also planned in various locations across the country.
The FRG can conduct independent operations in Haiti. As soon as it has information on the ground, it can intervene without going through the Haitian National Police.
"They will take charge of a large number of forward operating bases, covering all ten departments. They will deploy their troops there," specifies the source close to the FRG.
According to initial plans, which may change in the future, Chad will be responsible for the Western Department, while Sri Lanka will be deployed to Artibonite. Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire will go to the Western and Central Departments. A FRG team will cover the border.
Bangladesh plans to send a large contingent of nearly 1,600 personnel, including police officers. Sri Lanka, for its part, will send a mixed force of military and police personnel, deployed in the Artibonite region.
"We are still in talks with them to explain the situation in Haiti, and the reality on the ground before they send their troops," says the source close to the FRG.
Other countries will participate in the operations.
Guatemala was awarded the airport, while El Salvador sent planes for the evacuation of the wounded and for combat operations, and then intervened in the maritime domain.
Jamaica, for its part, is returning to provide support in the area of training.
According to initial plans, which may change in the future, Chad will be responsible for the Western Department, while Sri Lanka will be deployed to Artibonite. Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire will go to the Western and Central Departments. A FRG team will cover the border.
"By October of this year, we must have a total operational capacity of 5,500 people," says the senior official involved in the mission.
"And from there, we want to see Haiti organize elections," the source added.
For now, Kenya is ensuring the transition to this new mission while continuing the repatriation of its troops, pending the full deployment of the FRG, scheduled for October 2026.
The senior official familiar with FRG operations, contacted by AyiboPost, indicates that the mission is in a transition phase (pre-deployment) and that "the FRG continues to put in place its structures".
On March 17, 2026, a contingent of 215 Kenyan police officers left Haiti, as part of the repatriation already initiated by Nairobi.
The withdrawal of Kenyans from gang-controlled areas, coupled with delays in the implementation of the FRG, is fueling public anxiety and appears to be further weakening an already precarious security climate.
In Saint-Marc, residents took to the streets on April 16, 2026 to express their opposition to the departure of armored vehicles from the Kenyan mission.
This country is not part of the FRG. "We are in a transition phase, in the process of handing over the reins," the senior official explained, also noting that Kenyan forces could join the new mission later.
While doubts persist, the chargé d'affaires of the United States, a country heavily involved in the establishment of the FRG, acknowledged, in an interview with AyiboPost, "a slight delay" in the deployment.
The American diplomat explained that the FRG has reached its initial operational capability and that the first foreign contingents are beginning to arrive in the country.
These uncertainties are part of the long negotiations surrounding the deployment of the FRG.
The United States has allocated over $970 million in financial and in-kind assistance to the outgoing Kenyan-led mission. In October 2025, the international community pledged approximately $90 million to the United Nations Trust Fund for the new force.
Upon the end of the one-year mandate of the Multinational Security Support Mission in October 2025, the United States requested Kenya's assistance to ensure the transition to the FRG until December 2025.
"When we arrived in December, we thought the FRG would bring troops," explains the senior official quoted above.
This delay led to a new agreement between the United States, the UN and Kenya to extend their presence until March 31.
"We persevered until March 31st. By that date, the troops had still not arrived," the source continued.
The United States has again contacted Kenya to inform them that Chadian troops were not yet ready to be deployed.
After more than six months of waiting, a new deadline set for April 27 is being considered to allow the arrival of Chadian troops tasked with taking over, AyiboPost learns.
On April 1, 2026, an initial contingent of about fifty Chadian agents landed in Haiti.
"They are supposed to be 350 to start with. But in the end, they should be 750," emphasizes the senior official close to the mission.
Once the FRG has retaken the areas held by the Kenyans, the latter will be able to leave, the FRG official stated, recalling that the disengagement of Kenyan troops began in December 2025.
On April 14, the PNH announced the arrival in Haiti of the major general of the Mongolian troops of the FRG, as well as officers from Sri Lanka, Mongolia and Chad.
Unlike MMAS, which was supported by Canada and the United States, "FRG is arriving with its own equipment, funded by the United Nations," adds the source familiar with the matter.
In the case of the Chadian troops, "they come with their own vehicles, their own food, their own water. Then the United Nations will pay them," he continues.
However, "another source of concern is food, accommodation, and fuel," the official added. But the UN will provide support to the FRG, he added.
During the deployment of MMAS, Kenyan officials reported insufficient resources for this mission of approximately 1,000 members.
Unlike MMAS, which was supported by Canada and the United States, "FRG is arriving with its own equipment, funded by the United Nations," adds the source familiar with the matter.
The Kenyan-led mission faced logistical and funding challenges. Another major concern, according to the official, is Haitian public perception of the missions. "Haiti has seen so many missions. The FRG is the fifteenth. And people are fed up with missions."
Kenyan troops say they have trained nearly 2,000 PNH police officers to strengthen their capabilities.
MMAS officials also demand the maintenance of key institutions in the country such as the port of Port-au-Prince and deployment in several areas, including Kenscoff, Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, Laboule, Pont-Sondé and Saint-Marc.
Posted May 11, 2026