By DÁNICA COTO (Associated Press)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Many foreigners, including lots of people from the United States and Canada, are stuck in Haiti and desperately trying to get out of the violence-torn country. Anti-government gangs are fighting police and have closed both of the country’s international airports.
They were in Haiti for various reasons, such as adoptions, missionary and humanitarian work. Now, they are stuck in hotels and homes, unable to leave by air, sea or land due to the mayhem and the gangs’ demands that Prime Minister Ariel Henry resign.
“We are seriously trapped,” said Richard Phillips, a 65-year-old from Ottawa, Canada, who has visited Haiti more than 30 times to work on projects for the United Nations, 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.
Once his work was done, Phillips flew to the capital, Port-au-Prince, only to find that his flight had been canceled. He stayed at a nearby hotel, but the gunfire was relentless, so moved on to a safer area.
“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.”
Many people have died in the gang attacks that started on Feb. 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 in an attempt to reduce the violence, but the attacks continue.
Gangs have set fire to police stations, freed over 4,000 inmates from Haiti’s two largest prisons and attacked Port-au-Prince’s main airport, which is still closed. As a result, the prime minister has been unable to return home after a trip to Kenya to advocate for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country.
Phillips said he has tried all possibilities to leave Haiti by air, and a helicopter operator couldn’t get insured for such a flight. A private plane pilot said that approach would be too risky. As for attempting to walk to neighboring Dominican Republic: “We could potentially walk for miles and miles to reach a border, but I’m sure that’s also dangerous.”
Despite being stuck, Phillips said he remains calm.
“I’ve been shot at many times in Haiti and have bullet holes in my truck,” he said. “Personally, I’m kind of used to it. But I’m sure other people, it’s quite traumatic for them.”
Yvonne Trimble, who has lived in Haiti for over 40 years, is among the U.S. expats who can’t leave.
She and her husband are in the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien, waiting for a private evacuation flight for missionaries that had already been canceled once.
She said over the phone, "We're completely locked down. This is the worst I've seen it. It's total anarchy."
Trimble observed how a group of people surrounded the airport in Cap-Haitien recently and started throwing rocks and bottles after hearing a rumor that the prime minister was going to land.
She and her spouse are set to fly out next week with the help of Florida-based Missionary Flights International.
The company's vice president of administration, Roger Sands, mentioned that Missionary Flights International has received up to 40 calls from people wishing to leave or remain on standby.
"We're receiving phone calls constantly," he said. "The big concern is that every time people see an airplane, they think the prime minister is coming back to the country, and there's a large segment of the society that doesn't want that to happen. So we don't want to be the first ones in."
It's unknown when Haiti's two international airports will reopen.
Sands expressed, "This is challenging for us. We dislike seeing our planes on the ground when there's a need."
A missionary couple who spoke anonymously out of fear for their safety mentioned they have been living in Haiti for several years but won't leave because they're in the process of adopting a 6-year-old boy.
"There is no choice to be made. We're here as family," the woman said.
In the meantime, her husband was supposed to fly to the U.S. last week for medical treatment because he has Type 1 diabetes and has developed a neuropathy that causes severe pain in his legs and back, and muscle wasting in his legs, making it hard to move.
For now, the four appointments he made are on hold.
"It's a little frustrating," he said.
Also unable to leave are Matt Prichard, a 35-year-old from Lebanon, Ohio, and his family. Prichard, COO of a missionary, has two children — an infant and toddler — with his Haitian wife, as well as an 18-year-old son.
The rest of his family hasn't been able to get documents to enter the U.S. yet, so they will all stay in southern Haiti for now.
"We unfortunately seem to be stuck," he said.
Prichard noted that his son is stressed out by the situation, telling him he should leave because 'this isn't a good place for you. Just get out of here.'
But Prichard said, "As a father, you can't leave your kids or your family."
He mentioned the local grocery store has almost run out of basic goods and gas has been hard to find.
"The expat community here is really our solace," he said. "It's that connection, those relationships, that really are getting us through."
