PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC -Western diplomats based in Haiti have been evacuated from the troubled French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country as regional leaders gear for a meeting in Jamaica on Monday to discuss the way forward for its troubled member state.
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country’s ambassador to Haiti, Peter Sauer, had left the country for the neighboring Dominican Republic due to an “agitated security situation.” In contrast, members of the European Union Delegation, including the European Union ambassador Stefano Gatto, have also traveled to the Dominican Republic with the German diplomat.
They will work from there for now,” the Foreign Ministry noted.
The United States has already evacuated members of its diplomatic mission after confirming on Sunday that it conducted an operation to airlift non-essential personnel from the US embassy and bolster the security of its mission in the capital.
The US State Department said it had arranged for the evacuation overnight due to “heightened gang violence in the neighborhood near US embassy compounds and near the airport.”
US Southern Command said the move was consistent with “standard practice for Embassy security augmentation worldwide” and that no Haitians were on board the military aircraft.
“Our Embassy remains focused on advancing US government efforts to support the Haitian people,” US Southern Command said in a statement Sunday, adding that the evacuation helps to “allow our Embassy mission operations to continue.”
Haiti’s international airport is closed due to the insecurity, and its main container port terminal, run by Caribbean Port Services, was attacked and looted on March 8.
Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, Dr. Irfaan Ali, said that the regional leaders will meet in Jamaica on Monday to discuss the ongoing situation in Haiti.
A statement issued by the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said that “opening statements for the High-Level Meeting on Haiti” will begin at 1:00 p.m. (local time), and a closing news conference is also scheduled to take place “after the meeting.”
Ali, the Guyana President, said that the meeting is being called to “urgently address this current state of affairs and all other matters critical to stabilizing security and providing urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Haiti.
“It is vital that this engagement is at as high a level as possible to send a clear message of unity between CARICOM and the international community as we work together to provide critical support to the Haitian people during this crisis.”
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Kingston to attend the meeting and ‘will discuss the proposal developed in partnership with CARICOM and Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition in Haiti through the creation of a broad-based, independent presidential college as well as the deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission to address the ongoing security crisis”.
He said Blinken will meet with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness “to discuss bilateral and regional issues and reaffirm our strong and enduring ties with Jamaica.”
It is not known whether Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry will be present in Kingston. Henry, who came to power following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, has been in Puerto Rico since earlier this week, unable to enter his country after having traveled from Kenya, where he signed an agreement allowing for a United Nations Security Council sanctioned international force led by the African nation to restore peace and security in his troubled country.
But the criminal gangs that have all but taken over the capital, Port au Prince, said a new government would soon be installed. A judge, Durin Duret Jr., would be chairman, assisted by former rebel leader and former police commissioner Guy Philippe and Francoise Saint-Vil Villier, from the religious sector.
“PM Henry and all the other government members must resign, or they will face the consequences,” the outspoken and leftist political leader, Jean-Charles Moise, told journalists.
However, in a statement last Thursday, the government said it would extend a state of emergency in its Ouest Department, the seat of the capital city, for another month as it seeks to regain control of the troubled French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.
A declaration published in the official Gazette said the state of emergency would extend until April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11, and that this was to “re-establish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation.”
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