Canadian embassy staff relocated from Haiti amid 'volatile' security situation

Some staff were taken to the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning via chartered helicopter.

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Published Mar 14, 2024 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 5 minute read

A resident of Port-au-Prince walks past a National Police officer guarding the empty National Penitentiary after a small fire inside the jail on Thursday. Photo by Odelyn Joseph /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Canadian government has relocated some of its embassy staff in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, leaving a skeleton crew of essential personnel on the ground amid what it called a “volatile situation.”

Global Affairs Canada announced Thursday afternoon that it was temporarily reducing the amount of staff at the embassy due to the “lack of reliable supplies” and the “need to support an effective presence in a volatile situation.”

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Sébastien Beaulieu, director general of security and emergency management with Global Affairs, confirmed at a technical briefing that staff had been relocated to the Dominican Republic on Thursday morning via chartered helicopter.

For security reasons, Beaulieu said he was unable to provide staffing numbers, but said that between 10 and 50 per cent of personnel remained at the embassy.

He said that ambassador André François Giroux remained in place and that a “previously credited” Canadian diplomat from the country’s security team had been brought into the country to work as a “supplement and a complement” to the team in Port-au-Prince.

“The embassy in Port-au-Prince is temporarily closed to the public, and we are providing consular services remotely,” Beaulieu said. “The security situation remains volatile.”

The Haitian government declared a state of emergency in Ouest Department, including Port-au-Prince, on March 3.

According to the Canadian government, on March 5, the Dominican Republic closed its air border with Haiti, with the land and sea borders between those two countries remaining closed to travelers.

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Beaulieu said Thursday morning’s operation was done “with the support and co-operation of the Dominican Republic.” It followed similar moves by other countries over the past week.

No evacuations planned yet

No assisted departures or repatriation flights are planned for Canadians at this time, said Beaulieu, who noted that the country’s partners weren’t undertaking similar operations, either.

“As part of our emergency preparedness mandate, however, we are working on prudent contingencies with our domestic and international partners,” Beaulieu said, noting that the political and security situations in Haiti were being monitored.

There are close to 3,000 Canadians in Haiti registered with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service, Global Affairs Canada said Thursday, with the embassy and the federal emergency response centre receiving less than 100 calls since March 3.

A government statement published on Wednesday said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had spoken with Kenyan President William Ruto about the situation in Haiti, with the leaders welcoming “the news of a political agreement among Haitian stakeholders to move forward with the appointment of a provisional council and a transitional government.”

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“They stressed the importance of restoring democratic order in Haiti,” the statement read.

Staff relocation “fairly typical”

Pamela Isfeld, president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers, said she was concerned for the safety of the union’s members, but it was also “pretty standard” for embassy staff to be evacuated in such circumstances.

“It’s just to kind of get everybody out of the way,” Isfeld said. “Everybody who is there is a potential person that you might have to get out under severe pressure, so you get them out when you when you can more easily.”

Usually, Isfeld said, there are emergency plans in place with various embassy staff assigned to tasks like overseeing flights or enrolments to Registrations of Canadians Abroad.

“If you don’t have a role in that plan, those are the people who they would look at evacuating,” Isfeld said. “Haiti has a whole bunch of aid projects and, so, right now, if people can’t travel safely, can’t go to the projects and the activities associated with them, then those might be some of the people that might be evacuated.”

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Isfeld added that a series of triggers would usually be identified, taking into account local conditions, to determine when evacuation was needed.

“They’re just in preparation, they’re just slimming down to the most efficient kind of operations that they can have,” Isfeld said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is anticipating a sharp deterioration. It’s just part of the part of the way these kinds of operations go.”

Advice for Canadians

The Canadian government’s travel advice for Haiti, last updated Wednesday, urged the public to avoid all travel to Haiti due to the “threat posed by kidnappings, gang violence and the potential for civil unrest throughout the country.”

A nightly curfew was in effect in Ouest Department, and the Toussaint Louverture International Airport was closed.

The Canadian government is encouraging people in Haiti to shelter in safe places, to ensure they have enough essential supplies like food, water and fuel and to contact Global Affairs for any assistance.

Beaulieu said the government was ensuring team members on the ground were safe as they provide services, adding that part of the rationale of the decision to reduce staffing was to be able to focus security, assets and life support to support the core team remaining in place.

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We have proceeded today to reduce our footprint to essential employees at our embassy in Port-au-Prince 🇭🇹.

This will allow us to maintain our presence in Haiti to support Canadians during this volatile situation, given limited availability of supplies.

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) March 14, 2024

“We are committed to supporting Haiti and the Haitian people, today and in the long term,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that reducing the government’s “footprint” to essential employees at the embassy would allow the government to maintain its presence and support Canadians. “Our immediate priority remains the safety and security of Canadians, and this intervention will help ensure it.”

Speaking in Windsor, Ont., where he met with labour leaders and seniors on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the “humanitarian and security catastrophe that’s going on in Haiti right now is extraordinarily challenging.”

Trudeau said he had spoken with several Caribbean leaders, including Ariel Henry, who announced earlier this week he would resign as Haiti’s prime minister once a transitional council was created.

“Canada is deeply and actively involved in this process because we need to build political consensus,” Trudeau said. “It is obvious that, with the ongoing challenge, as much as the international community will continue to have a role to play, if we want a sustainable solution, that has to be led by Haitians themselves.”

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