US evacuates Americans from Haiti to Dominican Republic, Florida

Dominican Republic soldiers keep watch at a gate on the border with Haiti, in Dajabon, Dominican Republic, March 18, 2024. [Reuters]

The United States said Thursday that it was evacuating more Americans from Haiti as the impoverished Caribbean country is consumed with violence.

The State Department helped more than 90 U.S. citizens leave the country on Thursday, a spokesperson told VOA. Some were transported to Miami, others to the Dominican Republic.

As of Thursday, the State Department has helped more than 160 U.S. citizens leave Haiti since Sunday, the spokesperson said.

"We will continue to monitor demand from U.S. citizens for assistance in departing Haiti on a real-time basis," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"We reiterate our message to U.S. citizens: Do not travel to Haiti," they added, citing ongoing instability.

The U.S. chartered helicopters to take its citizens from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, which has been largely overtaken by armed gangs, to the neighboring Dominican Republic, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Wednesday.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic each occupy half of the island of Hispaniola.

"We do expect these helicopter movements to make multiple trips in order to try and get as many American citizens as we can today," Patel told reporters.

He did not disclose the timing of the evacuation flights or the number of Americans expected to leave Haiti, citing concerns about operational security.

Patel said U.S. government personnel will offer consular services to the Americans arriving in the Dominican Republic's capital, Santo Domingo, but they then will need to arrange their own travel back to the United States, Patel said.

The U.S. carried out another evacuation operation on Sunday when it flew 30 citizens to Florida on a chartered plane from the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien, which has been comparatively unscathed by gang violence.

Much of Haiti in recent weeks has descended into virtual anarchy after years of intersecting political, security and health crises.

The United States joined Caribbean leaders last week in pushing through a plan that will see the prime minister replaced by a transitional council ahead of the expected arrival of a Kenya-led security force.