The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said that embassy staff and registered Taiwanese in Haiti were all safe and accounted for amid escalating violence in the country, including the freeing of thousands in coordinated gang assaults on prisons.
The Taiwanese embassy in Haiti remains open, and the 24 Taiwanese known to be in Haiti — comprising embassy staff, technical mission members, businesspeople and their families — are unharmed, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that it would continue to closely monitor the situation in Haiti and respond accordingly, without elaborating.
Photo: Reuters
Haiti, one of 12 states that maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew starting on Sunday last week in response to a deadly surge of gang violence overwhelming Port-au-Prince beginning on Thursday last week.
The ongoing unrest was confined to the center of Port-au-Prince and the city’s airport in neighboring Tabarre Commune, about 10km from the embassy, the ministry said.
As the embassy is in the suburban commune of Petion-Ville, it has been largely unaffected by the unrest, the ministry added.
A 72-hour state of emergency has been declared in Haiti after armed gangs stormed two of the country’s largest prisons, reportedly allowing thousands of prisoners to escape.
The embassy was temporarily closed for several days in September 2022 due to a previous round of violent protests.
On July 9, 2021 — the day after former Haitian president Jovenel Moise’s assassination — 11 gunmen broke into Taiwan’s embassy.
The 11 men were later arrested without resistance after embassy staff notified the Haitian police.
The ministry has for the past several years issued its highest-level “red” travel alert for Haiti due to widespread crime and civil unrest.
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