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The FBI has joined the U.S. State Department in warning Americans not to travel to Haiti, citing ongoing civil unrest and the high risk of kidnapping and crime. The country currently has a level 4 travel advisory.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria told The Miami Herald last week that, “While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well.”

The FBI reported that kidnappings increased 300 percent in Haiti in the first three months of 2023, including incidents targeting U.S. citizens. In March, an American couple in Haiti to attend a festival was kidnapped and held for a month as their captors demanded a ransom payment. In fact, March 2023 saw the highest incidence rate since 2005.

Few Americans visit Haiti, which has been beset for years by a series of natural and man-made disasters. The vast majority of those who step foot on Haitian soil do so courtesy of Royal Caribbean Group, which has been bringing Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara passengers to its private resort destination at Labadee on Haiti’s north coast since 1986. Located on a peninsula on the north coast of the country, Labadee is a private resort leased by Royal Caribbean International through 2050, far from the violence in Port-au-Prince. However, unrest in Haiti has caused Royal Caribbean to suspend port calls in Labadee in the past, including during a 2004 coup.

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs slapped a “Do Not Travel” warning on Haiti in December 2022, also advising all Americans in Haiti to leave the country.

Gang violence has risen since Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. Recently, vigilante mobs have targeted suspected gang members: just this week, five men suspected of gang ties were killed in the streets of the capital, Port au Prince, and set on fire. At least 18 other people have been killed in a similar fashion in recent weeks.