Five Taiwanese nationals have arrived in the Dominican Republic after being airlifted out of Haiti amid escalating unrest in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.
The five Taiwanese left Haiti, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, at 8am on Tuesday with the help of “like-minded country/countries” and landed in the Dominican Republic later the same day, the ministry said in a statement.
The five were welcomed by Taiwanese expatriates in the Dominican Republic, and are now free to return to Taiwan or head elsewhere, it said.
Photo: Reuters
The ministry would not say which “like-minded” country or countries helped facilitate the evacuation, but Canada and the US evacuated citizens from Haiti on Tuesday, with Canada taking people to the Dominican Republic.
The five evacuees left Haiti after Taiwan’s embassy there asked more than 20 Taiwanese nationals, including embassy staff, if they wanted to leave, the ministry said.
Eighteen Taiwanese, including the ambassador to Haiti, embassy staff, technical mission members and businesspeople, are still in Haiti, and the embassy continues to function normally, it said.
The ministry would decide whether to evacuate more Taiwanese if the situation in Haiti worsens, it added.
The five Taiwanese all expressed a desire to leave Haiti for health or personal reasons, the embassy wrote on Facebook, thanking those helped with the evacuation.
It also confirmed that it would remain open.
“All the employees of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Haiti, including the Taiwanese Technical Mission and private-sector partners involved in bilateral projects, will continue to maintain their operations despite the current difficulties as a move to reaffirm their unwavering commitment to Haiti,” the embassy said.
The evacuation came after Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) last week said that the government had prepared evacuation contingency measures, but that the time had not yet come for a full-scale evacuation.
Despite the unrest in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, there were no signs that it would affect bilateral relations, Wu said.
Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Department Director-General Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城) last week said that it would be safer for Taiwanese to shelter in place given the risks involved in moving around in Haiti.
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