As the situation in the gang-ravaged capital of Haiti worsens, more Americans evacuated the Caribbean island nation.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the first rescue mission from Haiti with evacuees who were otherwise unable to return home due to the ongoing political crisis there.
14 Floridians were airlifted from Haiti to Orlando Sanford International Airport via emergency flights coordinated by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
DeSantis said his administration will continue to dedicate resources to prevent the flow of illegal immigrants from reaching U.S. shores while the situation in Haiti deteriorates.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said more flights will be sent to evacuate citizens trapped in Haiti.
Around 360 Floridians remain in Haiti, according to him.
Wednesday, the State Department evacuated more than 15 U.S. citizens aboard a U.S. government-chartered helicopter from Port-au-Prince.
Meanwhile, the conditions in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince has gone from worrying to “extremely alarming”, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator there.
“It’s important we don’t let the violence spill over from the capital into the country,” said Ulrika Richardson, briefing journalists at UN Headquarters via video-conference.
She said orchestrated gang attacks on prisons, ports, hospitals and the palace have unfolded over the past weeks, but in the past few days these heavily armed groups have been advancing into new areas of the capital.
“There is human suffering at an alarming scale,” she said, describing daily tension, sounds of gunshots and fear rising throughout the capital.
Abhorrent human rights violations are ongoing, with more than 2,500 people killed, kidnapped or injured, she said, stressing that sexual violence is rampant, with the use of torture and “collective rape” against women.
Haiti is “one step away from famine”, she warned, calling for urgent support for the humanitarian response plan.
The capital city’s international airport remains closed and under the control of coordinated machete and gun-wielding gangs, reports said.
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