ON Thursday morning local time in the state of Louisiana, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a deportation flight carrying more than 60 people from the city of Alexandria to Port-AU-Prince, the Capital of Haiti.
This comes just less than 24 hours after the U.S. Embassy in Haiti urged its citizens to leave the country, citing security concerns amid an escalating violence.
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy told its citizens,
“Given the current security situation and infrastructure challenges, U.S. citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible via commercial or private transport” according to U.S. Embassy in Haiti.
In response, an advocacy group by the name Haitian Bridge Alliance.
“Those two cannot happen at the same time. You cannot be evacuating people and deporting people at the same time. That is beyond inhumane. It is definitely a violation against human rights,” Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance said.
Last month, the U.S. government evacuated non-emergency government personnel and the family members of diplomats from the embassy in Port-AU-Prince.
That announcement came after Haitians flocked to the area outside the U.S. Embassy, seeking protection from heavy gunfire in the vicinity of the compound.
Meanwhile, it can be noted that Haiti has been overwhelmed by gang violence after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
