The Dutch contribution to United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH)

Company of marines

The marine company took responsibility for the allocated sector in the southeast of Haiti on 31 March. The sector headquarters was in the coastal town of Jacmel, where a Surinamese platoon joined the Dutch personnel. The Surinamese received logistic support from the marines, but operated independently apart from that.

Large Dutch sector

The marines had been assigned a huge sector (the area was expanded to include the town of Petite Goave and the surrounding area at the end of August) and the sector commander had his work cut out maintaining contact with all the local authorities. While it was true that the Dutch sector was reputed to be the most peaceful in the country, break-ins and robberies were still the order of the day. Escorting humanitarian convoys soon became part of the job.

Patrols

Most of the time, however, was spent patrolling by car, helicopter or boat, for one or more days at a time. After 9 April 1995, the day on which the electoral registration began, the marines stepped up the number of patrols considerably. Against the background of the forthcoming elections, they had to gather intelligence about the progress of the electoral registration and the election campaign, visit polling stations and report any problems. During the 1st round of the parliamentary elections on 25 June, the marines helped with the distribution, collection and counting of the ballot papers.

Helicopters and elections

From 30 May, they were also ordered to fly helicopter patrols at night over the sea in order to intercept drugs shipments and, at the beginning of June, they were requested to monitor the ships putting into port at Jacmel. The marines also provided training sessions for the Haitian police in their sector in driving proficiency and preventive maintenance. The 2nd round of parliamentary elections followed in September, and the months of December and January were taken up by the presidential elections.

Better logistic support

Poor supplies by the UN, in terms of food and water as well as fuel and spare parts, had an adverse effect on the operational deployability of the marine company. Only 7 of the 20 Landrovers were still usable by July 1995. The number of marines stationed in Port-au-Prince for logistic support was therefore increased; the company was augmented with 3 landing craft and 13 extra personnel. The landing craft enabled the marines to access the coastal towns which were difficult if not impossible to reach by road.

The marines’ operational deployment ended on 22 January 1996; 1 officer remained in the UNMIH staff until 11 April.