On Monday, Canada launched a program to get its citizens out of Haiti as the Caribbean nation grapples with a surge in gang violence, political instability, and a widening humanitarian crisis.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Canada had airlifted 18 Canadians out of Haiti as assisted departures began from the Caribbean nation.
Canada Airlifting Citizens Out of Haiti
Joly told reporters in Ottawa that her government would assist "the most vulnerable Canadians" in fleeing Haiti for the neighboring Dominican Republic. Joly said this includes Canadian citizens with medical conditions or those who have children.
"At present, the Dominican Republic has strict [eligibility] requirements for all those entering the country. Only Canadian citizens with a valid Canadian passport will be eligible for this assisted departure," Joly told reporters.
Canada is home to nearly 180,000 people of Haitian descent, and Haitian Canadians have been pleading with the government to aid their relatives who are trapped in Haiti during a weeks-long spike in deadly violence.
In early March, armed gangs attacked police stations, jails, and other government buildings in Port-au-Prince's capital. They called for the unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down.
According to the United Nations, the violence has reportedly prompted more than 360,000 Haitians to leave their homes. Others have been cut off from food, water, and other supplies because they have been trapped in their homes in Port-au-Prince.
Humanitarian agencies reported the nation is facing an increasing food crisis. The nation's main airport, located in Port-au-Prince, is still blocked as a result of the unrest, and armed groups have looted humanitarian cargo.
On Friday, Laurent Uwumuremyi, the Haiti director at Mercy Corps, said in a statement that gangs dominated 80% of Port-au-Prince, and now they control nearly 90% of neighborhoods.
Uwumuremyi claimed that basic tasks, such as grocery shopping at street markets or pharmacies or seeing a doctor, are now becoming impossible.
He also noted that if the situation continues to deteriorate without any efforts to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis, Port-au-Prince will soon find itself completely overwhelmed by this extreme violence.
On Monday, when asked about Canada's evacuation program logistics, Joly said evacuees must reach a gathering point in a safe area. From there, a helicopter will take them to the Dominican Republic.
She said she cannot provide details on the nature of the operations because she do not want those operations to be targeted by the gangs.
Furthermore, Joly said the government was investigating alternative options to help Canadian permanent residents and their families escape Haiti.
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US Evacuates First American Citizens From Port-au-Prince
Last week, the United States also launched helicopter evacuations from Haiti.
US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on March 20 that the department is in the process of organizing government-chartered helicopter flights from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Patel added that from Santo Domingo, American citizens will be responsible for their onward travel to the US.
According to US media sources, a State Department spokesperson said on Saturday that over 230 US citizens have fled Haiti since March 17. The officials said this includes departures from Port-au-Prince and the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien.
Based on census figures, the US hosts the largest Haitian diaspora community in the world, with over 1.1 million people identifying as Haitian in 2022.
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