Canada ending assistance to leave Haiti this weekend
Canada is going to stop its assisted departures out of Haiti this weekend, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday, as she urged Canadians to immediately leave the country which has been overtaken by chaos.
Around 250 Canadians and their relatives have been helped to leave so far. But by Sunday, the federal government will no longer be assisting Canadians in exiting the country, where an uncertain political situation has lead to widespread violence.
As of April 1, there were close to 3,110 Canadians in Haiti registered with Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Earlier this week, GAC said approximately 500 Canadians citizens, permanent residents and their families had reached out to the government seeking assistance in leaving Haiti.
“My message to Canadians, permanent residents and their eligible family members who are currently in Haiti is this: If you want to leave Haiti, now is the time to do so. If you would like our help in leaving, you must contact Global Affairs Canada,” Joly said in a statement.
Violence has engulfed the Caribbean country as gangs, which took control since mid-2021, have limited access to food and essentials, leading to a political and humanitarian crisis.
The situation escalated last month when progress toward a foreign military intervention prompted gangs to release prisoners and shut down the country’s main airport, blocking its embattled prime minister, Ariel Henry, from re-entering the country.
The Canadian government had initially evacuated only those with valid Canadian passports until April 1, when it announced it would be expanding its assisted departures to permanent residents and relatives after 153 people had successfully departed to the neighbouring Dominican Republic.
It also said it would be arranging for charter flights for Canadians who pay a market rate to fly to Montreal from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince through an undisclosed, safe location.
The statement did not say if all Canadians who had requested an assisted departure would get one by Sunday’s deadline.
“We have been working around the clock to facilitate the departure of more Canadian citizens, permanent residents and eligible family members from Haiti,” Joly said. “Now that many have left, the number of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their eligible family members, who can or want to leave Haiti on assisted departure flights has decreased significantly.”
The government has resisted calls to send troops into the country, instead supporting a Kenya-led security mission with $80.5 million in funding. Approximately 70 Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to Jamaica last week to provide training to troops from Caribbean nations as they prepared to deploy to Haiti.
“The security situation in Haiti remains extremely volatile. Canada’s missions in the region are actively monitoring the situation and working with partners and like-minded governments, as well as the international community to address the situation,” Joly said Friday.