Foreigners trapped in violence-torn Haiti wait desperately for a way out

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dozens of foreigners, including many from the United States and Canada, are stranded in Haiti, desperately trying to leave the violence-torn country where anti-government gangs are battling police and have already shut down both of the country's international airports.

They were in Haiti for reasons ranging from adoptions to missionary and humanitarian work. Now, they are locked down in hotels and homes, unable to leave by air, sea or land as Haiti remains paralysed by the mayhem and the gangs' demands that Prime Minister Ariel Henry resign.

“We are seriously trapped,” said Richard Phillips, a 65-year-old from the Canadian capital, Ottawa, who has travelled to Haiti more than three dozen times to work on projects for the UN, USAID and now, a Haitian nonprofit called Papyrus.

After arriving in Haiti in late February, Phillips flew to the southern coastal city of Les Cayes to teach farmers and others how to operate and repair tractors, cultivators, planters and other machinery in an area known for its corn, rice, peas and beans.

“We are actually quite concerned about where this is going,” he told The Associated Press by phone. “If the police force collapses, there's going to be anarchy in the streets, and we might be here a month or more.”

Scores of people have been killed in the gang attacks that began February 29, and more than 15,000 people have been left homeless by the violence.

Earlier this week, Haiti's government extended a state of emergency and nightly curfew to try and quell the violence, but the attacks continue.

Gangs have burned police stations, released more than 4,000 inmates from Haiti's two biggest prisons and attacked Port-au-Prince's main airport, which remains closed. As a result, the prime minister has been unable to return home after a trip to Kenya to push for the UN-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country.

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.