MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - More flights are coming to South Florida this week to help people escape the violence in Haiti, and now there is a new option for those seeking safety amid the growing unrest.
Sunrise Airlines announced new direct flights to Miami International Airport from Cap-Haïtien, a port city on the north coast. The first two of these direct flights are scheduled to land at MIA on Monday.
More than 30,000 people have fled the country, according to a report from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.
The flights come as gangs in Haiti continue to terrorize people and attack police stations and other government facilities in the country’s capital of Port-au-Prince, where they’ve seized control of the airport.
“The country is at a place where it’s never been before, and we need to start from scratch,” said Dochenet Vatel with the Haitian Youth and Community Center of Florida.
Scores of people have been killed, and tens of thousands have been left homeless since the gang attacks began on Feb. 29.
These groups also stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons and released more than 4,000 inmates.
This past Thursday, a U.S. government-chartered flight evacuated more than 80 U.S. citizens and brought them to MIA.
“I’m relieved,” said a passenger.
“I’m doing OK. The situation is very bad,” said passenger Gastan Desuere.
The state of Florida, the U.S. State Department, and private citizens are working to ensure those Americans who want to leave Haiti can safely do so.
Some Haitian Americans said they hoped the U.S. would intervene in the conflict.
“Haiti needs a good government,” said passenger Wilson Joseph. “I’d like for the United States to go to Haiti to help this country.”
The Sunrise Airlines flights are scheduled to touch down at MIA at 11:40 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. on Monday.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.