OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:23 AM – Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The U.S. State Department has confirmed that over 30 American citizens have been evacuated from Haiti on a government-chartered flight.
On Sunday, the State Department said that more than 30 U.S. citizens had landed safely in Miami, Florida, after being evacuated from Haiti amid rising gang violence and chaos.
They were flown on a government-chartered flight after the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince urged U.S. citizens earlier this month to leave Haiti “as soon as possible.”
“On Sunday, March 17, the Department of State facilitated the safe departure from Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, of over 30 U.S. citizens on a U.S. government charter flight,” the State Department said in a statement. “These passengers are now safely in Miami, Florida, where U.S. government officials are assisting with next steps. We will continue to assist U.S. citizens as long as commercial options remain unavailable and the security environment permits us to do so.”
The main airport in Haiti remains closed as an influx of gang attacks have been on the rise, and the government and aid agencies also reported looting of aid supplies as the situation worsened.
On Saturday, the State Department declared that it would provide a restricted number of charter flights to U.S. citizens from the northern city of Cap-Haïtien.
Authorities stated that they are unable to offer ground transportation to Cap-Haïtien and that Americans should only take advantage of charter flights if they are confident in their ability to get to the airport safely.
Traveling Americans are required to sign a promissory note committing to pay back the government.
“We encourage U.S. citizens still in Haiti who seek to depart to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website if they have not already done so,” the department said in its statement on Sunday. “We remain in contact with U.S. citizens in need of assistance in Haiti. We are examining options for departures out of Port-au-Prince and will inform U.S. citizens about them as soon as we are able to safely and securely arrange them.”
The State Dept. has also reported that they are aware of at least “several hundred more” Americans who are still stuck in Haiti. Last week, the U.S. military flew in extra forces to tighten security and evacuate non-essential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti.
Meanwhile, many Christian missionaries are still reportedly trapped in Haiti and are said to be waiting for more charter flights. Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) announced that he has approved rescue flights to assist U.S. missionaries in leaving the unstable country.
“I have authorized rescue flights like we did in Israel after the October 7th because we’ve got a lot of folks who are part of Christian missionary groups and they do things to try to actually help a very troubled country,” said DeSantis on Friday.
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