Canadians trapped in Haiti
‘WE’VE LIVED THROUGH A COUP D’ETAT, AN EARTHQUAKE, A HURRICANE — THINGS CAN HAPPEN IN THIS COUNTRY’
Roughly 100 Quebec tourists are trapped at their all-inclusive beachfront hotel north of Haiti’s capital as violent protests rock the Caribbean nation, blocking access to the airport and forcing the Canadian government to close its embassy on Thursday.
The hotel is located 75 kilometres north of Port-au-prince. Route 1, the only highway linking the hotel to the airport, is considered extremely dangerous at this point.
At the same time, two city of Montreal employees working in Haiti have left in the last two days, while eight officers with the Montreal police force on a training mission have opted to stay, saying their security is not at risk.
The Quebecers are in Haiti on all-inclusive vacation packages organized by Air Transat. Many were scheduled to leave Sunday, but travel on main routes has been closed for a week as protesters demanding the ouster of President Jovenel Moise over widespread unemployment and rampant inflation have been blocking roads and looting stores. The protests have left at least seven people dead.
Terry Watson, 58, and her partner Sylvain Limoges, 55, have been at the Royal Decameron resort for 11 days now, four days longer than anticipated.
“Air Transat keeps saying that they’re trying to find a way by car to bring us to the airport, which is impossible,” Watson told Postmedia News. “Everybody here is nervous, having a hard time sleeping. We’re worried the unrest will go on, and we will be stuck here for months.
“We need to go by helicopter but Air Transat refuses.”
Tourists from other locations, including the United States and Europe, were airlifted from the hotel by helicopters organized by their tour companies. Watson tried to rent one, at a cost of $350 per person, but it arrived too late to catch Air Transat’s Wednesday flight. Air Transat told clients attempting to book helicopters the company could not be held liable for their safety.
“It’s going well given the circumstances. They feel safe, “said Watson’s daughter, Marie-christine Remy, who lives in Sherbrooke. She noted the resort is surrounded by guards. “But they are eager to get back home. They were supposed to be back Sunday.” It’s her mother’s first visit to Haiti.
“What I want to know is why Air Transat was still flying people to Haiti if they knew it was unsafe,” Rémy said.
Air Transat public relations head Debbie Cabana said the company’s last flight of all-inclusive travellers went to Haiti on Feb. 6.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Port-au-prince on Feb. 7 to demand Moise’s resignation, following months of unrest.
Global Affairs Canada issued an advisory warning Tuesday against all non-essential travel to Haiti “due to civil unrest throughout the country.”
Michel Bougie, vice-president of an evangelical Christian foundation that has been present in Haiti for 20 years, said his team had been scheduled to return home on Wednesday but “they can’t move.”
“All the roads in the country are blocked,” Bougie said in Montreal. “It’s really a well-concerted effort to literally paralyze the country with the goal of destabilizing the government.” Bougie said his team of doctors, nurses and other personnel are safe despite the violence.
“We’ve lived through a coup d’etat, an earthquake, a hurricane — things can happen in this country,” Bougie said. “But they are people we love enormously.”
The heavily fortified Canadian embassy in Port-auprince was closed on Thursday to ensure the safety of employees as well as Canadian diplomats and their families.
Asked whether Global Affairs Canada was helping to extricate the travellers, spokesman Richard Walker said in an email: “Consular services are being provided to Canadian citizens in Haiti and we stand ready to provide assistance to Canadians who require it. … Global Affairs Canada is also working with tour operators to provide consular advice to them as they work to ensure that their clients are able to leave Haiti safely.”
Air Transat still has two flights a week shuttling between Montreal and Portau-prince, but only Haitian passengers wishing to return home or visiting family or for work are being flown into the country.
“We have about 100 passengers at the hotel and they are staying there because it is the safest place at this point,” Cabana said. “The trouble is with the shuttle between the hotel and the airport. This transfer is not considered safe. We really want to bring them out all together, and for operational and security issues we are looking more at a land transfer than helicopter transportation.”
Passengers stranded in Haiti are not being charged for extra days. Those who were booked to go to Haiti in February are being offered different destinations, or can opt to delay their trip to Haiti to a later time.
There were two city of Montreal employees in Haiti during the protests, one with the city’s infrastructure services, the other with Montreal’s Haiti-canada municipal co-operation program.
City officials said Thursday one city employee was repatriated last night and the other was on a plane home. Two others came home Sunday night, but that was already planned.
“We will repatriate the city employees who are in Haiti,” Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said. “It’s not a decision that’s easy to take. Obviously, we want to be able to support the Haitian population and contribute as little as possible to the state of instability there. But at the same time, we have a duty to protect our employees and ensure they’re safe.”
As for the Montreal police officers, “for now, it’s their decision,” Plante said. “We’re discussing with them.”
The eight officers in Haiti who are there to train security workers will stay for the time being, as their safety is not considered at risk, a Montreal police force spokesperson said.
A doctor and nurses from New Brunswick working in Haiti have also been unable to access the airport.