Browse
our Frontpage
US urges citizens against travel to Haiti

Washington / AFP
05/27/2005

The US State Department on Thursday urged US citizens to leave Haiti and not to travel to the strife-torn Caribbean nation, amid violent crime including carjackings, kidnaps and assault.

“Americans are reminded of the potential for spontaneous demonstrations and violent confrontations between armed groups,” the State Department said in a statement. It said it had instructed non-emergency personnel at its embassy in Haiti to leave the country.

“Visitors and residents must remain vigilant due to the absence of an effective police force in much of Haiti,” it said in a warning that replaced the previous one issued March 11. Possible looting, intermittent roadblocks set by armed gangs or by the police, “and the possibility of random violent crime, including kidnapping, carjacking and assault” were other reasons for extra care to be taken, it said.

“American citizens who remain in Haiti despite this warning are urged to consider departing.” Violence remains Haiti’s number-one problem, in fact, nearly a year since a UN stabilization mission landed in Haiti after former president Jean Bernard Aristide was ousted. About 300,000 firearms are estimated to be available in Haiti and many areas of the country are in the hands of armed gangs. According to human rights groups, about 620 people have been killed in Haiti since September.