A 2-year-old boy separated from his parents flees Haiti’s violent capital

A Florida couple’s trip to the Dominican Republic for a wedding turned into days of anxiety after leaving their 2-year-old son with relatives next door. Haiti and the boy ended up trapped by the worsening unrest in that country.

After nearly three weeks, the boy, Julien, finally left Haiti and returned to Florida on Wednesday, where he was reunited with his parents, Philippe-Olivier Armand and his wife, Olivia Turnier.

Cases

Her son’s evacuation is part of a growing number of hasty, ad hoc departures from Haiti, wracked by a wave of gang violence that has turned parts of the capital Port-au-Prince into a war zone and shuts down major communication routes. airport.

“It had to be a 48 hour trip and it turned into two and a half weeks of uncertainty and stress,” said Armand, 36, a Haitian businessman who works in the finance and insurance industry and travels between Haiti and his home in Miami.

He said they left Julien in Haiti on March 1.

Julien, along with seven cousins ​​and six other family members, boarded a helicopter in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday morning that took them about 120 miles north to Cap-Haitien, the second largest city in Haiti.

There they were met by a charter plane sent by the Department of Emergency Management from Florida, who brought them to Florida.

The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it had helped 160 Americans they will leave Haiti starting Sunday, some on flights to the United States and others by helicopter to the Dominican Republic.

Haiti’s capital has been wracked by violence since a coalition of gangs launched a coordinated offensive against the prime minister’s government Ariel Henry in late February, raiding police stations and other government buildings, ransacking hospitals and banks, and attacking private homes.

Henry, who could not return to Port-au-Prince after leaving on an official trip and remained there Puerto Ricohe agreed to resign once a transitional government was in place.

Negotiations over who will be part of that government have progressed slowly.

As part of an international plan to stabilize Haiti, a mission of 1,000 police officers led by Kenya and approved by the United Nations will be deployed in the Caribbean nation after the establishment of an interim government.

The gangs now control major roads in and out of Port-au-Prince and are blocking access to the seaport, cutting off supplies of food, fuel and water to the city.

This week, gang members attacked more prosperous areas, including the suburb of Pétionville, where many live. foreign families.

On Tuesday, about 1,000 Americans had filled out “crisis intake” forms as part of the process to seek exit from the country, according to the State Department, although officials said the evacuations would be dictated by security conditions.

The state of Florida is organizing its own exits and the governor Ron De Santis announced Tuesday that the flight taking the Armand family from Haiti to Orlando will likely be the first of many.

Armand said the ordeal began when he and several family members left their children with relatives in Haiti.

“All the parents traveled without their children and it became a nightmare,” she said.

The relatives, Armand said, received last-minute instructions Wednesday morning to go to a dirt field in Pétionville, where the helicopter picked them up.

“It wasn’t easy to find a place to land the helicopter,” said Julien’s grandfather Philippe Armand, 75, who lives in Miami and used WhatsApp to follow the journey.

“It was very secretive, like a covert operation.”

The logistics were organized with the help of a Florida foundation led by Jack Brewerformer National Football League player.

“Without him, this wouldn’t have happened,” Armand said.

Refunds

Americans on flights coordinated by the US government must agree to reimburse the government, even if the State Department it said costs would not exceed the price of a commercial flight between the countries.

DeSantis said the people on the plane that landed in Florida would not face charges.

With the closure of Port-au-Prince airport, evacuations have become increasingly dangerous.

Trying to reach Cap-Haïtien requires traveling on roads controlled by gangs who often kidnap drivers and passengers and demand ransoms.

Many Haitians are increasingly calling for the United States to send military reinforcements to Haiti, and some are angered by the focus on evacuating American citizens and diplomatic personnel from other countries.

“Instead of addressing the situation, we see embassies evacuating people,” said Reginald Delva, a Haitian security consultant and former Haitian government minister.

“It’s time to focus on the security situation.”

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