Foreigners trapped in violence-torn Haiti wait desperately for a way out

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Scores of foreigners are stranded in Haiti, unable to leave the country under siege by violent gangs that have shuttered its international airports, trapping citizens from the U.S., Canada and beyond. They were in Haiti for reasons ranging from adoptions to missionary and humanitarian work. Now, they are locked down in hotels and homes, unable to move by air, sea or land as Haiti remains paralyzed while gangs attack police stations, prisons and other key government institutions, demanding that Prime Minister Ariel Henry resign. Richard Phillips, a 65-year-old aid worker from the Canadian capital, Ottawa, arrived on his latest trip to Haiti late last month. He said, “If the police force collapses, there’s going to be anarchy in the streets.”