A contigent of 140 Rwandan National Police peacekeepers arriving from Haiti at Kigali International Airport where Rwanda has maintained a contiguous police peacekeeping-on a rotational basis-for the last nine years. The ninth and last contingent of 140 policemen from Rwanda Formed Police Unit (FPU-9), deployed to Haiti in September last year, returned home on board a UN-chartered aircraft on Sunday.
After nine years of rotational deployments in the Caribbean country, the Rwandan National Police (RNP) has completed its peace support activities in Haiti.
The ninth and last contingent of 140 police officers deployed to Haiti in September of last year, the Rwanda Formed Police Unit (FPU-9), returned home securely on a UN-chartered aircraft this Sunday.
The contingent was obtained by Police Commissioner (CP), John Bosco Kabera, on behalf of the management of the Rwandan National Police at Kigali International Police (KIA).
Kabera thanked them for maintaining and building on the legacy left behind by the contingents that worked before them in Haiti.
“Rwanda National Police thanks you for representing your country well in Haiti and welcomes you back home. You sustained the Rwandan legacy and left a good picture, the duty continues back home,” Kabera said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Edward Kizza, who guided FPU-9 repatriation safely, said they had a “good tour-of-duty.”
“We had enough training prior to our deployment and we inherited a legacy left behind by previous contingents where the local people were so welcoming and cooperative, and this made our peacekeeping duties easier,” Kizza said.
“During our tour-of-duty, we also continued the Rwandan tradition of human security activities, we supported faith-based activities including participating in the rehabilitation of a local church and donated chairs and piano to another church; we made sure that Jeremie prison never ran out of clean water; donated medical drugs to a health centre which offers free medical services to the local people; and supported the regional Police station with vehicle spare-parts to facilitate their operations,” Kizza said.
On 30 January 2011, Rwanda deployed its maiden FPU contingent of 160 policemen under the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Since then, 1360 police officers have been deployed in the nine contingents of the FPU in the Caribbean nation. Their activities were primarily in Jeremie.
Some of the important job the RNP peacekeepers have accomplished in Haiti involves providing safety in the Grande Anse region, conducting patrols and escort responsibilities, providing humanitarian assistance, protecting important facilities, and protecting camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Others include management of public order, protection of UN delegates and provision of emergency services to the local population.
Their peacekeeping responsibilities were also characterized by community hygiene and human security operations where they backed a variety of needy communities in health, education, growth of sports and offering shelter.
In particular, they built housing for a poor family in Jeremie, who were left homeless by floods, worked with the local population to rehabilitate highways, assisted orphans with garments, bedding and scholastic equipment, and reacted to rescue operations, particularly during disasters such as floods.
All donations were made by every Rwandan police peacekeeper who worked in Haiti out of economic contribution.
The deployment of FPUs in Haiti accompanied the 2010 disastrous earthquake that murdered over 100,000 individuals and displaced over three million others.
The UN Security Council extended the UN mandate in Haiti in April 2017 under a new entity — UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH).
Under the new mandate, peacekeepers of the Rwandan Police supported the Government of Haiti in strengthening the institutions of the rule of law, further developing and supporting the Haitian National Police and monitoring, reporting and analysis of human rights, among others .