US advises citizens to defer non-emergency travel to Haiti
Friday, July 9, 2004
WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The United States
advised its citizens Thursday to defer non-emergency travel to Haiti, warning
that the situation in the impoverished Caribbean nation remained unpredictable
and potentially dangerous. The State
Department said although the situation in many areas in Haiti had calmed
considerably since earlier this year and major commercial air carriers resumed
their operations there, "travel in Haiti still involves serious risks."
US citizens "are encouraged to defer non-emergency travel to Haiti," the
department said. "Visitors and residents must
remain vigilant due to the absence of an effective local police force in
Haiti; the potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set
by armed gangs or by the police which may disrupt travel; and the possibility
of random violent crime, including kidnapping," it said.
A UN stabilization force officially took over Haiti's security late last
month, replacing a US-led deployment to the country after former president
Jean Bertrand Aristide fled a popular revolt in late February.
He first travelled to the Central African Republic and later Jamaica before
arriving in South Africa. The State
Department also said travel can be hazardous within Haiti's capital
Port-au-Prince, and that embassy staff was not allowed to travel within the
city. It added that while the UN
stabilization force (MINUSTAH) had begun to deploy, the international presence
throughout Haiti would remain limited for some time to come.
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