U.S. evacuates embassy staff amid gang violence in Haiti; families plead for evacuation of adopted children

Amid escalating violence in Haiti, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince is set to evacuate 20 non-essential staff following targeted gang attacks on two embassy vehicles and an incident in which a United Nations humanitarian helicopter was struck by gunfire, David Culver and Abel Alvarado report for CNN. The gangs 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan were reportedly behind the embassy vehicle attacks, though no injuries were reported. The heightened unrest and recent reporting on the evacuation plans of the U.S. Embassy have intensified calls by U.S. families to expedite the evacuation of 70 adopted Haitian children from high-risk areas of Port-au-Prince.

Michelle Reed, an adoptive parent from Fort Myers, Florida has a  6-year-old son stuck in Haiti. Reed along with 54 U.S. families, have appealed to the State Department for humanitarian parole to bring these children—already caught in a drawn-out adoption process—safely to the U.S. The recent surge in gang violence has underscored the vulnerability of these children, as gangs have increasingly targeted orphanages and other vulnerable areas in the capital.

While previous calls for intervention were met with limited responses, Reed and others emphasize the urgency, pointing to gang control over key roadways and the continued risk to children’s safety. Both the gang-related incidents and recent evacuations have led families to renew pleas for an immediate resolution from U.S. authorities to authorize the children’s evacuation, given the deteriorating security in Haiti.

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