Canada’s embassy in Haiti remains closed amid violent street protests that have trapped dozens of Canadians in the Caribbean country.
The closure of the embassy Wednesday came a day after Global Affairs Canada updated its travel advisory to advise against all non-essential travel to Haiti.
READ MORE: Quebecers trapped in Haiti as violent protests continue
“We will continue to evaluate the security situation over the coming days to determine what steps are necessary to ensure that our diplomats and their families are safe,” Global Affairs said in a statement.
WATCH BELOW: Haitians claim gang members dressed as police carried out massacre
It said it has people on the ground to provide assistance to Canadian citizens in Haiti as needed.
A group of tourists from Quebec are stuck in a Haiti hotel, unable to make it to the Port-au-Prince airport because of violent street protests.
Get breaking National news
READ MORE: Men in police garb massacred civilians in Haiti
The only highway linking the all-inclusive Royal Decameron Indigo Beach resort to the airport is considered extremely dangerous, and people are staying off it. The hotel on the Caribbean country’s Côte des Arcadins is about 75 kilometres north of the capital.
Air Transat, which sold package tours to the resort, says its flights between Montreal and Haiti are continuing, but it has been unable to provide safe ground transport from the resort to the airport.
WATCH BELOW: Protesters urge feds to declare moratorium on Haiti deportations
Marie-Christine Remy, said her mother, Terry Watson, and her mother’s partner, Sylvain Limoges, were supposed to fly home last Sunday but could not make it to the airport.
They were switched to a flight Wednesday but again could not get out.
READ MORE: Canadians told to ‘shelter in safe place’ as violent protests erupt in Haiti, travel warning issued
“It’s really troubling,” Remy said from Sherbrooke, Que.
“I called the Canadian government and they told me that it was best to stay at the hotel, which is safer. It is the highways that are particularly dangerous.”
Some tourists have told Quebec media helicopter transport is available to the airport but at a very high cost.
READ MORE: Montreal protesters urge Ottawa to halt Haiti deportations after travel advisory issued
Protests demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise have claimed several lives over the past week.
Protesters are angry about skyrocketing inflation and the government’s failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti.
Comments