Not to be glib, but the phrase "hell in a handbasket" comes to mind when reading the latest news out of Haiti. The island nation has descended into chaos as gangs have attacked police stations and other government sites, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry remains in Puerto Rico, unable to return to his country. In response to the deteriorating situation, the U.S. military has evacuated staff from the embassy in Port-au-Prince.
The U.S. military conducted an overnight mission to evacuate staff and add security at the embassy in Haiti, another sign of the deteriorating situation in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
The military airlifted U.S. personnel into and out of the embassy at the request of the U.S. State Department, according to an early Sunday statement from U.S. Southern Command. The mission was designed to “allow our Embassy mission operations to continue, and enable non-essential personnel to depart,” according to the statement. No Haitians were on board the aircraft.
This latest action follows weeks of unrest, with gangs attacking and overrunning multiple locations.
Heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of Haiti’s main international airport on Monday, exchanging gunfire with police and soldiers in the latest attack on key government sites in an explosion of violence that includes a mass escape from the country’s two biggest prisons.
The Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed when the attack occurred, with no planes operating and no passengers on site.
Associated Press journalists saw an armored truck on the tarmac shooting at gangs to try and prevent them from entering airport grounds as scores of employees and other workers fled from whizzing bullets.
As noted above, Prime Minister Henry remains out of the country and, at present, is unable to return, as the Dominican Republic has refused to allow him to land due to safety concerns.
The prime minister had traveled to Kenya to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country to fight gangs in Haiti. A Kenyan court, however, ruled in January that such a deployment would be unconstitutional.
Henry, who is facing calls to resign or form a transitional council, remains unable to return home. He arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday after he was unable to land in the Dominican Republic, which borders Haiti. The Dominican government said he lacked a required flight plan as they closed their country’s airspace with Haiti.
On Saturday, the office of Dominican President Luis Abinader issued a statement saying that “Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for safety reasons.” The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has closed its land border.
Per the statement from U.S. Southern Command:
“Our Embassy remains focused on advancing U.S. government efforts to support the Haitian people, including mobilizing support for the Haitian National Police, expediting the deployment of the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections.”