The Biden administration plans to charter at least one evacuation flight from Haiti, but only for stranded Americans who can reach an evacuation point at their own risk, the State Department announced Saturday.
The State Department announced it was “arranging charter flights for U.S. nationals” to flee Haiti, which is in turmoil as criminal gangs fight in the streets for control of the Caribbean nation. announced. With the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, the country’s largest city and the scene of the worst fighting, closed, the State Department plans to evacuate Americans by air from Cap-Haitien if they become stranded. Limited. Americans can reach Cap-Haitien on time on their own.
“Travel to Cap-Haitien is done at your own risk,” the State Department said in a report Saturday. post “Overland travel from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien is dangerous,” authorities wrote in a release announcing the plan. (Related: For the third time in recent years, Americans are left stranded in a combat zone under Biden’s watch)
Haiti: We offer charter flights from Cap-Haitien to the United States for U.S. citizens with a valid U.S. passport. Travel to Cap-Haitien is at your own risk. If you are interested in this flight, please fill out the application form (https://t.co/bRo87JkOsI). https://t.co/qzBjoYDrM8 pic.twitter.com/ItUfaVaeAD
— Travel – Department of State (@TravelGov) March 16, 2024
Only Americans with valid U.S. passports can board the flight, and those planning to evacuate should fill out a form and await further information from the State Department on how to proceed, officials said. Those ultimately boarding the plane must “sign a promissory note agreeing to reimburse the U.S. government for the cost of their flight,” according to the State Department.
Cap-Haitien is located on the opposite side of the island from Port-au-Prince, and the distance between the two locations is approximately 195 miles or more than 5 hours by car. according to Go to Google Maps. It is unclear how many Americans remain trapped in Haiti or in which parts of the country they are located.
The agency said the evacuation plan would be implemented “assuming the security situation in Cap-Haitien is stable,” but added that “the security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous.” The State Department said it was working on an evacuation solution from Port-au-Prince and insisted it would notify Americans of its plans “as soon as it is safe and secure to do so.”
A State Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation: “Embassies abroad compile rough estimates of the number of U.S. citizens in their countries for emergency planning purposes, but these estimates are subject to change. It’s always changing.” “Because U.S. citizens are not required to register their travel abroad with us, we cannot faithfully track how many U.S. citizens are in a particular country.”
It is unclear whether authorities have a specific contingency plan in place in case the Cap-Haitien facility becomes unavailable for evacuation flights.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comments from the State Department.
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