US Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) announced on Sunday that it is required to airlift non-essential personnel from the US embassy in Haiti and send additional troops to the embassy to ensure security.
The European Union and Germany have also withdrawn their embassy staff as bloody gang violence escalates in Haiti.
“Due to a sharp increase in gang violence in areas near the U.S. embassy and airport, the State Department has decided to move forward with the removal process for additional personnel,” a U.S. diplomatic spokesperson said. Said Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Sunday.
“This airlift of personnel to and from the embassy was consistent with standard practice for increased security at embassies around the world, and there were no Haitians on board the military aircraft,” USSOUTHCOM said. said. Saidaddressed concerns that the Haiti crisis would spark a new wave of refugees entering the United States.
“The Embassy is committed to supporting the U.S. government in supporting the Haitian people, including mobilizing support for the Haitian National Police, facilitating the deployment of UN-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) missions, and accelerating the peaceful transition of power through grant aid. “We remain focused on advancing our efforts to ensure “and fair elections,” the U.S. military statement said.
The statement added that the US Department of Defense (DoD) remains “ready” to provide “strong support to the MSS, including planning support, intelligence sharing, airlift, communications, and medical support.”
MSS is largely theoretical in nature.State Department Said On Saturday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Haiti crisis with Kenyan President William Ruto, who pledged to lead a multinational peacekeeping force with 1,000 Kenyan police officers.Ruto’s intervention plan thwarted by Kenya court ruling He said he had no constitutional authority to send Kenyan police abroad.
European Union (EU) announced On Monday, the government evacuated all personnel from Haiti, citing a “dramatic deterioration in the security situation.”
European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said EU staff would be relocated from Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince to “safer locations abroad” where they would continue to work.
“Of course, we are assessing the situation and will adjust our methods of operation as the security situation evolves,” Stano said.
Germany also withdrew its diplomatic personnel from Haiti over the weekend. CNN report “On Sunday we were forced to decline a request to help evacuate other people,” the evacuation operation carrying German and EU personnel said.
Sunday’s evacuation flight included both the German and EU ambassadors to Haiti. The situation was so dangerous that it required “multiple days of intensive planning and coordination on both sides of the Dominican-Haitian border” to bring the situation under control.
The mission appears to have taken the form of a “light commercial helicopter” that was given special permission to fly between the Dominican Republic and a dirt landing zone in Port-au-Prince.Dominicans are not closed their borders In relations with Haiti, the country has suspended air services and is speeding up the construction of a border fence.
CNN added: “Some in Port-au-Prince’s diplomatic community are concerned about where the gang attacks will lead next.”
“Due to the extremely tense security situation in Haiti, the German Ambassador and the Permanent Representative of Port-au-Prince departed today for the Dominican Republic together with the head of the EU delegation,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Confirmed on sunday.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry remains in office Can not He returned to Haiti after a visit to Kenya, leaving the capital largely under the control of Haiti’s most feared gang leader, Jimmy “Barbeque” Chéridier.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry speaks at the inauguration of his new cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office in Port-au-Prince on November 24, 2021. (VALERIE BAERISWYL/AFP via Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, Barbecue is currently the most powerful person in Haiti,” says consultant Judes Jonassas Said England guardian on sunday.
Over the weekend, gangs launched major attacks on government buildings, including at least three police stations and the deserted presidential residence, the National Palace. Associated Press (AP) spotted A civilian woman struggles on the sidewalk after being hit by a stray bullet during a gang attack.
The Associated Press said police were struggling to secure government buildings as frightened citizens took refuge in them.
“We need shelter because we are the ones paying taxes,” said one woman, who did not want to be named for safety reasons.
Another Port-au-Prince resident, who also declined to give his name, also described a large-scale attack on Friday.
“They (gangs) came with big guns. We don’t have guns, so we can’t protect ourselves. All of us, our children, are suffering,” the man said.
Law enforcement sources explained ABC News reported that the weekend attacks were “coordinated and rapid, with different groups targeting multiple government buildings at the same time.” Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the city.
ABC sources said the gang had taken over the National Palace, which was heavily damaged in the 2010 earthquake and has remained deserted since President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in 2021, and said it was “an ongoing threat to organized crime. “It aims to deal a highly symbolic blow to Haiti’s efforts to fight the rebellion,” he said. In the countryside. ”
First Lady Martine Moïse (center) attends the memorial service for her late husband President Jovenel Moïse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 21, 2021. On Friday, March 24, 2023, a convicted drug trafficker pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court. , to participate in the assassination of the Haitian president in 2021. (Oderin Joseph, File/AP)
An emergency meeting of the Caribbean alliance CARICOM is scheduled for Monday, with special envoys from the United States, Canada and the United Nations invited to attend.The meeting is reportedly It was postponed until the United States and other countries completed the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Haiti.
“Criminals are now taking over the country. There is no government and it is becoming a failed society,” warned Guyana’s Vice President Bharat Jagdeo.
Guy Philippe, the leader who staged a coup in Haiti in 2004, returned to the U.S. last year after serving a prison sentence. Said On Friday, Ariel Henry argued that he should resign. He cited his experience as police chief and made himself a candidate for interim leadership.
“I think he should stay where he is… and let Haitians decide their own fate,” Philippe said of Henry.
The Biden administration reported: pressured Henry resigns and begins a “political transition” to a new government. Henry, who has been in power since Moïse’s assassination, is dismissed as illegitimate by many Haitians.he has Rejected It plans to hold four elections, most recently saying in February that elections could be possible in August 2025.
Gang leaders like Cherizier seized the opportunity to overthrow the government when Henry departed on a trip to Kenya, vowing to fight tooth and nail to prevent him from returning home. Cherisier said last week that if the international community continued to support Henri’s rule, Haiti would be headed “straight toward genocide.”
