As Americans and Haitians attempt to flee gang violence, the United States considers evacuation alternatives from Haiti.
Tuesday saw the arrival of ten American citizens in Florida on a private aircraft that Haitian missionaries had hired.
In the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien, CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez discovered that many more people are still attempting to flee and are concerned about the people they would have to leave behind.
“We are still investigating our options for American citizens who wish to leave Haiti,” Vedant Patel, a deputy spokeswoman for the State Department, stated on Tuesday. He added that around one thousand people have contacted the department through the department’s website to request assistance or a means of leaving Haiti.
“We’ll stay in touch with those American citizens,” he declared on behalf of the State Department.
When asked if the U.S. government supported private evacuation flights that were organized, sometimes with assistance from Congressmen, Patel responded that these missions “deviating from formal State Department operations” would be dangerous. However, he emphasized that any American citizen seeking refuge is welcomed by the administration.
With no airplane to depart on Tuesday, Gregoire Leconte, a U.S. citizen, was among hundreds of individuals in Cap-Haitien attempting to escape the nation.
He said CBS News, “The situation in Haiti is very bad.”
A woman who wished to remain anonymous expressed concern for her friends and family whom she would soon have to part from, but she was certain that the hazards were too great.
“People go inside your house, killing, raping, all those things, burning your house,” she continued.
A missionary plane from Fort Pierce, Florida touched down in Cap-Haitien with about 5,300 pounds of essential humanitarian goods, including food and baby formula, as many others were waiting for a chance to escape.
Tania Francois of CBS Miami was the lone journalist on the aircraft. She was informed by airport staff that this was the first American aircraft to arrive in Haiti with passengers and critically needed supplies.
Later, the aircraft took off from Cap-Haitien and flew south to the village of Pignon, which is located roughly halfway between the bustling northern port city and Port-au-Prince. Afterwards, it returned 14 persons to Florida: 10 holders of US passports and 4 citizens of Haiti.
Christla Pierre, a traveler from Haiti, said to Francois, “It’s not what I wish, because Haiti is my country.” She stated that her son, who is 15 months old and an American citizen, could only see a pediatrician in the United States, which is why she was coming there.
Annexe Soufferance, another Haitian on the aircraft, claimed he was visiting family in the Caribbean country before using his student visa to return to the United States.
“I’m glad for the opportunity I have to study in the U.S., but my goal is to come back and serve my country,” he stated.