Kidnappings, gang violence, checkpoints and shortages across Haiti, plus Dominican Republic border closure and warnings against overland routes.

Haiti is under broad avoid-all-travel advice as of 2026-05-15. Ten governments in this source set advise avoiding all travel or use an equivalent highest-level warning; recent updates cite gang violence, kidnappings, civil unrest, shortages, dangerous road movement, and limited consular support.

What Is Being Advised

Avoid all travel to Haiti. If you are already there, check your own government's latest advice, register with its traveler service if available, and plan around limited or unavailable consular help inside Haiti.

For Port-au-Prince road movements, border crossings, public transport, and overland routes, check current official instructions before moving. Recent official notes flag road entry and exit from Port-au-Prince, land travel, public transport, checkpoints, attacks, and border issues with the Dominican Republic.

If you have a Haiti trip booked, postpone or reroute unless your government gives you specific travel instructions. If you are in Haiti and trying to leave, verify commercial flight options or another safe route before moving.

Where exactly this applies

Nationwide: multiple governments advise avoiding all travel to Haiti.
Port-au-Prince: official notes call out security risks, road entry and exit, airport-area armed assaults, transport risks, and attacks linked to cash withdrawals.
Overland travel: Germany strongly advises against land travel; Spain warns against several overland routes and public transport; France has active notes on entering and leaving Port-au-Prince by road.
Dominican Republic border: France has an active note on border closures with the Dominican Republic.

Organizations issuing warnings

Auswartiges Amt (Germany)
Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland)
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (United Kingdom)
Global Affairs Canada (Canada)
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (France)
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Union Europea y Cooperacion (Spain)
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (Italy)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand)

Why The Advice Is This Severe

Germany's 2026-05-14 update warns against all travel to Haiti and recommends German nationals leave by available commercial flights or any other safe route. It cites gang violence, attacks on state facilities, checkpoints, kidnappings, shortages, a continuing state of emergency, and strong advice against land travel.

Spain's 2026-05-13 update strongly discourages travel to Haiti after a progressive deterioration in security since 2021. It cites waves of kidnappings, frequent shortages of fuel and basic goods, and warnings against several overland routes and public transport.

Canada's 2026-05-04 advice says to avoid all travel because of kidnappings, gang violence, and the potential for civil unrest throughout Haiti. Canadians already in Haiti are told to register or update their details through Registration of Canadians Abroad.

The United Kingdom's 2025-12-10 advice says there are no British consular officials in Haiti and that in-person consular assistance cannot be delivered there. British nationals may need consular help through the UK diplomatic mission in the Dominican Republic.

Japan keeps Haiti nationwide at Level 4, telling travelers to evacuate and not travel. New Zealand lists Haiti at level 4 of 4 because of kidnapping, violent crime, and civil unrest.

Routes, Borders, And Local Movement

Road movement is a named risk in several recent advisories, especially around Port-au-Prince. Germany strongly advises against land travel. Spain warns against several overland routes and public transport. France has active notices on road entry and exit from Port-au-Prince, entry and exit from Haitian territory, and border closure issues with the Dominican Republic.

France also flags armed assaults at the exit from Port-au-Prince airport, assaults after cash withdrawals, transport risks, criminality, and kidnappings. Exposure includes lodging, transfers, cash stops, and route changes.

Health And Secondary Risks

Italy's Viaggiare Sicuri includes a cholera health caution updated 2025-10-19, plus security cautions for Port-au-Prince and Haiti. The strongest Haiti-wide advice in this source set remains avoid all travel.

Source Notes

The official inputs checked on 2026-05-14 include 12 individual avoid-all-travel notices or equivalent highest-level warnings and 5 heightened-caution notices. Some countries publish one countrywide warning; France and Italy publish multiple topic or area notes, which is why the number of individual notices is larger than the number of issuing governments.

Official source notes

Official source notes used for this article. Native government labels are preserved when available.

Auswartiges Amt (de) (avoid all travel; native label: Reisewarnung; updated 2026-05-14; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti: Reisewarnung. Germany warns against all travel to Haiti and recommends German nationals leave by available commercial flights or any other safe route. It strongly advises against land travel and cites gang violence, attacks on state facilities, checkpoints, kidnappings, shortages, and a continuing state of emergency.
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Union Europea y Cooperacion (es) (avoid all travel; native label: SE DESACONSEJA ENCARECIDAMENTE VIAJAR A HAITÍ.; updated 2026-05-13; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti: travel strongly discouraged. Spain strongly discourages travel to Haiti after the progressive deterioration of security since 2021, waves of kidnappings, and frequent shortages of fuel and basic goods. The latest update also warns against several overland routes and public transport.
Global Affairs Canada (ca) (avoid all travel; native label: Avoid all travel; updated 2026-05-04; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti - Avoid all travel. Avoid all travel to Haiti due to the threat posed by kidnappings, gang violence and the potential for civil unrest throughout the country. If you are in Haiti, register or update your personal information through the Registration of Canadians Abroad service and encourage other Canadian citizens in Haiti to do so.
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (avoid all travel; native label: Zones formellement déconseillées; updated 2026-04-16; checked 2026-05-14): Haïti - Conseils aux voyageurs: security zones. France Diplomatie currently places parts of Haïti above ordinary baseline travel advice. Native severity labels are preserved as: Zones formellement déconseillées. Named areas/routes/borders include: Criminalité, Enlèvements, Agressions à main armée à la sortie de l’aéroport de Port-au-Prince, Agressions consécutives à un retrait d’argent, Risques liés aux transports.
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (avoid all travel; native label: Dernières minutes; updated 2026-04-07; checked 2026-05-14): Haïti - Situation sécuritaire et risque élevé d’enlèvement. France Diplomatie has an active 'Dernières minutes' update for Haïti, titled 'Situation sécuritaire et risque élevé d’enlèvement'. The update concerns security or civil disruption; the original French excerpt is included for exact official wording.
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (avoid all travel; native label: Dernières minutes; updated 2026-04-07; checked 2026-05-14): Haïti - Entrée et sortie de Port-au-Prince par voie routière. France Diplomatie has an active 'Dernières minutes' update for Haïti, titled 'Entrée et sortie de Port-au-Prince par voie routière'. The update concerns security or civil disruption; the original French excerpt is included for exact official wording.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (au) (avoid all travel; native label: Do not travel; updated 2026-02-26; checked 2026-05-14): Smartraveller advisory for Haiti: Do not travel. Australia Smartraveller lists Haiti at "Do not travel" on its current destinations index. The destination entry was updated on 2026-02-26.
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (gb) (avoid all travel; native label: FCDO advises against all travel; updated 2025-12-10; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti: FCDO advises against all travel. FCDO advises against all travel to Haiti FCDO advises against all travel to Haiti due to the volatile security situation. There are currently no British consular officials in Haiti and our ability to provide consular assistance is severely limited and cannot be delivered in person in Haiti. British nationals may get consular services assistance at our diplomatic mission in the Dominican Republic.
Department of Foreign Affairs (ie) (avoid all travel; native label: Do Not Travel; updated 2025-11-05; checked 2026-05-14): Ireland DFA: Do not travel - Haiti. Ireland DFA currently rates Haiti as Do Not Travel. Ireland DFA strongly advises against all travel to Haiti.
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (ch) (avoid all travel; native label: general — von Reisen nach Haiti wird abgeraten; Von Reisen nach Haiti wird abgeraten; updated 2025-10-30; checked 2026-05-14): FDFA travel advice for Haiti. The FDFA advises against travel to Haiti. The current FDFA update note was published on 2025-10-30.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (jp) (avoid all travel; native label: レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）; updated 2025-09-05; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti: レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）. Japan MOFA keeps Haiti nationwide at レベル4：退避してください。渡航は止めてください。（退避勧告）（継続）; travelers should evacuate and not travel. The update notes cite ongoing security risks and advise travelers to monitor reliable information and take sufficient safety measures.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (nz) (avoid all travel; native label: Do not travel; updated 2024-11-28; checked 2026-05-14): Haiti: Do not travel. Do not travel to Haiti due to the high level of kidnapping, violent crime and civil unrest (level 4 of 4).
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (heightened caution; native label: Dernières minutes; updated 2026-04-07; checked 2026-05-14): Haïti - Fermeture des frontières avec la République dominicaine. France Diplomatie has an active 'Dernières minutes' update for Haïti, titled 'Fermeture des frontières avec la République dominicaine'. The update concerns security or civil disruption; the original French excerpt is included for exact official wording.
Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires etrangeres (fr) (heightened caution; native label: Dernières minutes; updated 2026-04-07; checked 2026-05-14): Haïti - Entrée et sortie du territoire haïtien. France Diplomatie has an active 'Dernières minutes' update for Haïti, titled 'Entrée et sortie du territoire haïtien'. The update concerns security or civil disruption; the original French excerpt is included for exact official wording.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sanitaria - Situazione sanitaria; updated 2025-10-19; checked 2026-05-14): Situazione sanitaria. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Haiti in Haiti for above-baseline travel caution due to cholera. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-10-19; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Port-au-Prince in Haiti for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are told to avoid the affected area or activity and follow local instructions.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale (it) (heightened caution; native label: sicurezza - Area di particolare cautela; updated 2025-10-19; checked 2026-05-14): Area di particolare cautela. Official Viaggiare Sicuri marks Haiti for above-baseline travel caution due to security risks. Travelers are advised to use heightened caution and follow local authority instructions.