American parents desperately trying to get their adopted kids out of Haiti as country burns under gang leader 'Barbecue'

Heartbroken adoptive parents are pleading with the US government to help get their children out of violence-ridden Haiti.

The parents, who are based in states such as Iowa and Florida, told DailyMail.com they fear for the youngsters' lives as the island descends into anarchy.

In horrifying testimony, they revealed they could hear gunshots and screaming as they spoke to the kids on the phone this week.

Haiti has plunged into chaos as violent gangster 'Barbecue' held the nation to ransom unless the prime minister resigned.

He has overseen a reign of terror as civilians were butchered in the streets and the airport was shutdown, before the country's leader finally said he would step down.

Hundreds of heartbroken American adoptive parents are pleading with the US government to allow their children to come home from violence-stricken Haiti

Megan and Chris Myers are the legal parents of their five-year-old son Jeff and are asking the US Government to waive the requirement for further documents needed to bring him home

Parents who have not obtained an adoption decree are also pleading with the US Government to grant humanitarian parole to allow them to get the kids to safety

'Our children will not survive this,' warned adoptive mom Michelle Reed, who is trying to get her adopted six-year-old son Esai home to Florida to reunite with his two biological siblings who she previously adopted.

Reed is one of several parents who spoke to DailyMail.com about their struggles watching violence in Haiti led by gang leader Jimmy 'Barbecue' Chevrizier.

'The last time I spoke to my son, I could hear gun shots in the background,' Reed added, saying gang members had already stormed the orphanage not two weeks earlier. 

'Everyone was screaming, they were looking for a car and said, 'we will be back to take what we need', it's very alarming.

'My son is asking, 'When can I come home? When are you going to get me?' Every time I hang up there is that uncertainty,' Reed said.

Among her concerns is the blocking of roads which is preventing aid from reaching the city. 

People, carrying Haitian flags, march during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, on Wednesday. He later announced he was leaving the post

Out-gunned police in the Caribbean country are battling rampaging gangs

Port-au-Prince has been paralyzed in a fierce battle for political power, with Jimmy 'Barbecue' Cherizier (pictured on Tuesday) - an influential gang leader in Haiti - having warned of civil war and 'genocide' unless embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned

'The lack of resources is worrying they are running out of water, food will run out in about two weeks. It has just stripped them of everything,' Reed said.

'I feel really helpless but I have a strong faith which is getting me through.' Many parents like Reed are having a hard time getting their children out of Haiti.

They demand the US grant humanitarian parole, which would enable the children to be evacuated to a place of safety before continuing the adoption process. 

A similar process was set up in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, although it faced some criticism. But Reed argues the urgency of the situation demands an appropriate response.

'I understand that there are concerns but Haiti is now a Hague country, so there are a lot more safeguards in place that would allow us to get them out and continue the legal adoption process,' she said.

Meanwhile, parents who already have adoption decrees - basically final paperwork- are being asked to present further documents to Haitian authorities before their children can be released.

But they have pointed out that the gang rule in the country means that traveling to give in any additional paperwork is difficult, if not impossible due to attacks against state buildings in the country including the Ministry of Interior which was burned down on Saturday.

Gangs have burned police stations, shot up the main international airport, which remains closed, and raided Haiti's two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates. Pictured: A protester holds a Haitian flag as tyres burn in the street behind him

Vehicles which were set on fire by armed gangs on Monday night are seen outside the Carrefour de l'Aeroport sub-police station of the Haitian National Police (PNH), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 5

Meanwhile, gangs across the country continue to unite, causing thousands to flee their homes

All non-essential US Embassy personnel have already been evacuated meaning there is nobody there to receive any documents. 

'It is a nightmare,' said Megan Myers, a Spanish professor and a scholar on the literature of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

She and her husband Chris were weeks away from meeting her adoptive son Jeff, five, after a five-year adoption process when the violence broke out.

'Every day I wake up and I just can't imagine anything worst happening in our adoption process, it feels surreal,' she said.

'We are so desperate to get him out, but at the same time I have to separate my selfish desire to get my son home with the understanding that Haiti needs a solution that is best for Haiti and that is led by Haitians.'

Myers said she and her husband spend their days anxiously awaiting updates on their son, who is currently in a Haiti orphanage.

'He is in an area that is not in the epicenter, but it is still concerning. There are kids we know have that have had to evacuate or who are all sleeping in the basement in one room of orphanages. It's not safe for anyone,' Myers said.

'There growing problem is the lack of supplies, that is becoming a real issue.' 

Violence in the Caribbean country broke out out this past week , and has since threatened to bring down the local government.

Politicians across the region are scrambling for a solution, as dogs have been seen gnawing on the unaddressed dead, and bodies are burned in the streets

The couple is calling on the US government to waive some of its requirements, such as granting eligible children a US passport waiver so they can travel immediately.  

'There are numerous countries with precedents for this and in much less violent circumstances. The situation is changing so much it's hard to know what the next 24 hours will bring,' Myers added.

She and Reed said their pleas for help have fallen on deaf ears. They also shared concerns that adoptive American families' and their children's details are being shared around after Haiti's adoption agency was ransacked. 

This was echoed by Texas mom Kim Snelgrooes, whose file certifying the adoption her nine-year-old son was among those in the Ministry of the Interior in Haiti when it was pillaged.

'It is a great fear of ours that our information has been lost,' she explained. 'The area that my son is in is one of the most dangerous and has a high rate of kidnapping. If it were known that he has American parents he would be targeted.

'I'm frustrated with the US government. We are being told to get his file from the MOI and present it to the US Embassy, but obviously there are no longer any staff working there.

'I asked my representative what I can do and he said under the current rules, I could in theory fly to Haiti once the airport's open, then travel to Mexico and we could enter  walking through on the southern border, which is crazy.' 

The National Council For Adoption estimates that around 100 American families are in the same position as Myers and Snelgrooes.

Meanwhile, there are  'several hundred' more families are going through the adoption process, with 'thousands' of impacted orphans.

CEO Ryan Hanlon said the uprising has only compounded the families' issues with Haiti's lengthy adoption process.

'Parents are concerned for the safety of their kids and they are putting in a requirement that is adding to the length of time,' he said.

'Lots of families have been in touch with us, they are very frustrated. In the case of the first group, they are legally the parents of the children who are stranded.'

In Haiti, desperate American citizens are also anxiously awaiting flights that can repatriate them.

US Embassy staff were evacuated under the cover of night on Sunday, but many more citizens remain stranded, although the State Department is yet to confirm exactly how many.

There were warnings the country has become a 'mini-Mafia state', in the power vacuum caused by the resignation of the country's Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Monday.