UN aims to resume humanitarian flights in Haiti on Wednesday

The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) will resume its limited operation in violence-wracked Haiti later this week, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted the waiver to the World Food Programme’s (WFP) UNHAS to operate its U.S.-registered helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft in Haiti. The service will resume on Wednesday.

“The plane isn’t very big and the helicopter isn’t a huge helicopter,” Dujarric said. “So it moves some humanitarian goods, but mostly people.”

The FAA on November 12 imposed a 30-day ban on all U.S.-registered aircraft flying in Haiti’s airspace after a Spirit Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale was hit by gunfire on a landing approach to the Port-au-Prince airport. The aircraft diverted to the Dominican Republic and landed safely. Jet Blue airline reported one of its aircraft also was struck while landing at the capital airport.

Dujarric, who thanked the FAA for lifting the ban, also told reporters at a regular briefing of the latest upsurge in violence in Haiti.

“Our colleagues from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) tell us that, as violence escalates in Haiti, over 20,000 people have been displaced across Port-au-Prince area in just four days,” he said. “This includes 17,000 men, women and children now hosted in 15 displacement sites.”

The spokesman pointed out that many of the displaced had previously been forced from their homes, some several times.

“Our colleagues say that a scale of displacement has not been observed like this since August of last year,” he said. “Despite security and access challenges, IOM and its partners remain steadfast in their commitment to delivering assistance.”

Dujarric said IOM is aiding some of the displaced by providing subsidies for rent payments and deploying mobile clinics for medical care. The agency is also offering protection services such as psycho-social support, family reunification efforts and assistance for survivors of gender-based violence.

He said IOM also supports deported migrants at border crossings.

“IOM reminds all parties of the importance of ensuring the safety and security of all humanitarian personnel as well as civilians,” the spokesman said. “IOM also renews our calls for unimpeded access to those in need.”

He added that the WFP is planning to serve hot meals to over 16,000 displaced people over the next few days. On Wednesday it distributed food rations to more than 50,000 vulnerable people in Croix-des-Bouquets and aims to distribute food rations to more than 135,000 people in the capital by the end of the month.

“Outside of Port-au-Prince, WFP and its partners continue to provide school meals,” Dujarric said. “Over 430,000 school children are receiving meals, with 70 percent of these meals prepared using ingredients produced and procured locally.”