Canadians in Haiti warned to shelter in place as gang violence continues

Canadians in Haiti are being advised to stock up on food, water and medications and shelter in place as gang violence in the country continues to escalate.

The advice was issued Sunday night as Global Affairs Canada updated its travel advisory for the country.

The update came hours before officials from multiple countries, including Canada and the U.S., and the United Nations are expected to attend an emergency meeting in Jamaica on the situation.

Caricom, the 15-nation Caribbean bloc, made the invite Friday, saying in a statement that “the situation on the ground remains dire.”

Haiti has been gripped for more than a week by unrelenting gang attacks, the latest escalation in months of fighting, leaving it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. A state of emergency and nightly curfew was extended this past Thursday as key state institutions were attacked.

The federal government is advising Canadians that if they cannot shelter in place, they should limit movements and maintain a low profile when going outside.

According to Global Affairs in a statement to Global News, there are 2,901 Canadians in Haiti that are registered with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service. It also said their Emergency Watch and Response Centre has responded to 600 enquiries since March 3, mostly in regard to general travel information and the overall security situation.

Members of the Caricom regional trade bloc have been trying for months to get political actors in Haiti to agree to form an umbrella transitional unity government.  But average Haitians, many of whom have been forced from their homes by the bloody street fighting, can’t wait. The problem for police in securing government buildings is that many Haitians have streamed into them,