Monday, March 18, 2024 – US President Joe Biden has sent charter flights to evacuate American citizens from war-torn Haiti.
This is after the US Congress blocked funding to President
William Ruto’s government to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti to restore
order.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives
questioned Biden's administration’s decision to donate Ksh28 billion to
Kenya for the Haiti mission.
With the funding facing hurdles, Biden’s administration is
now seeking to evacuate all of its citizens from Haiti, a week after evacuating
non-essential staff from its embassy.
With Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince taken over by
gangs, the United States decided to use the less-known airport
in Cap-Haïtienhas.
“We are arranging a charter flight for U.S. citizens from
Cap-Haitien to the United States, assuming the security situation in
Cap-Haitien remains stable,” the US government updated its citizens.
Only US citizens with valid passports were eligible to board
the charter flights.
“U.S. citizens who choose to depart using U.S. government-coordinated
flights must sign a promissory note agreeing to reimburse the U.S. government
for the cost of the flight,” the statement read further.
The US embassy in Haiti making its own assessment noted that
the situation was unpredictable and dangerous.
Even with highly trained marines protecting US government
officials in Haiti, the world’s superpower admitted it could not guarantee the
safety of its citizens.
This comes even as Ruto has vowed that despite the
deteriorating situation in Haiti, Kenya would not give up on the people of
Haiti.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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