Biden administration is BLOCKING privately-funded Haiti evacuations by not allowing groups to fly out from landing zone, volunteers claim

The head of a private rescue mission attempting to evacuate American citizens form war-torn Haiti claims the US government is blocking his efforts by not allowing him to use a landing zone next to the embassy. 

Bryan Stern, the CEO and founder of Project DYNAMO, told DailyMail.com his attempts to rescue almost 40 US citizens is being hampered by the State Department which he says will not allow him to land private helicopters on the land outside the American embassy in Port-au-Prince. 

The airport in Port-Au-Prince has been entirely shut off to the public amid mounting violence under mob boss Barbecue, now controlling the country. 

The State Department is yet to confirm how it is getting Americans out, or how many are even there. 

Stern says there is nowhere safe to land a helicopter, load up passengers and flee from, aside from the embassy.  

Haitians are seen carrying buckets of water towards the blaze as official authorities remain largely absent throughout the ongoing crisis

'The US government won't use helicopters to get people out but there but there there is an argument to be made that they should assist or help non-profits that have to do it' Stern told DailyMail.com on Friday.  

Bryan Stern is trying to evacuate 40 Americans from Haiti but says the State Department is hampering efforts 

'There is a landing zone right in front of the US embassy, but at this time we are denied because we're not government but surely the US government could use their own helicopters and landing zones to bring US citizens out?' Stern said. 

'Its not necessarily a bad thing or bad decision that they don't want to put US troops at risk and do not to evacuate Americans but they should therefore assist other efforts to do so.  

'As long as we can operate, we will continue to operate even with no assistance from the federal government, financially or otherwise' he explained. 

The US State Department did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.  

Stern said the situation for the Americans he is trying to rescue is deteriorating as Haiti slips into further chaos. 

'We are trying to rescue people sheltering in place in Port-au-Prince with stacks of bodies outside the front door.

'The gangs are focused on the population zones, so the risk profile of those we are attempting to rescue is based on location' he explained.

The city has descended into pandemonium after heavily-armed gangs took over the capital and are clashing with police (pictured Thursday)  

Tires have been burnt in the streets of Port-au-Prince during protests following Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation on Tuesday 

A protester burns tires during a demonstration in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday 

Adding: 'Some of the families are way out west where it is relatively safe and benign at the moment but they still need to get out.'  

According to Stern the gangs currently running Port-Au-Prince are 'very active very kinetic and not controlled.'

'In other conflict zones globally if there is a leader they are able to control their forces, in this case that is not exactly accurate' he explained. 

'If gang leaders try communicating with their guys on the street they won't listen.

'There is decentralized command and control indicative of a breakdown in law and order.

'That breakdown is not just of legitimate rule, but also now the illegitimate law and order.' 

Going forward Stern suggested the US government 'needs to do whatever it can to bring law and order back.

'If that is a peace keeping force with foreign partners in the UN whatever that looks like.

'The way you stop Haitians fleeing Haiti is making Haiti a place you don't need to flee' he said in reference to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis efforts to block boats travelling from Haiti landing in Flordia.

'I can comprehend where Governor DeSantis is coming from but it doesn't solve any problems on a long term basis' he said. 

Adding: 'You're curing the symptom not the disease.' 

Stern intends to evacuate US citizens by helicopter or boat if necessary. 

'We're still working on it, although we are imminent of an operation we won't start something that we won't finish we don't try, we succeed' he said on Friday. 

'Of the 609 missions we've undertaken around the world in the last ten years, we have rescued over 7000 people. 

'Every person we have tried to rescue we have succeeded.'  

The city has descended into pandemonium after heavily-armed gangs took over Haiti's capital and released thousands of prisoners who went on a killing spree, as the nation teeters on the edge of civil war. 

Footage shared with DailyMail.com by Project DYNAMO revealed flames in the streets and billowing clouds of smoke rising into the skies.

Haitians are seen carrying buckets of water towards the blaze as official authorities remain largely absent throughout the ongoing crisis.

Other residents walk calmly through the street, resigned to the turmoil, including a school girl skipping along with her backpack on. 

The country's top gang leader Jimmy 'Barbeque' Cherizier has threatened the families of political leaders who would support a planned transition council replacing ousted Prime Minister Ariel Henry. 

'Don't you have any shame?' Barbecue said in a seven-minute audio message distributed on Thursday.

'You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen' he said of the politicians.

'I'll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti... if your husbands are in Haiti,' he said in an apparent threat to their families. 

'If you're gonna run the country all your family ought to be there' he added. 

In his remarks, Barbecue said the resignation of Henry was only 'a first step in the battle' for the island nation of around 11 million.

A police union said the national police chief Frantz Elbe's house had been set on fire on Thursday.

It is not yet clear if anyone had been hurt or give details on Elbe's whereabouts.

A police officer is seen in an operation on the surroundings of the National Penitentiary following a fire on Thursday 

Ron DeSantis announced that he will send over 250 additional soldiers - and a fleet of aircraft and boats - to 'protect' Florida from vessels carrying Haitian asylum seekers

It comes as American citizens are scrambling to flee the war-torn nation but claim to have been 'abandoned' by the US government. 

Private rescue charity Project Dynamo is currently attempting to rescue 30 Americans, including children.  

The US government is yet to address exactly how many Americans remain stranded. 

Officials are considering housing refugees in Guantanamo Bay if there is a mass exodus.

Germaine Byrd, of Miami, told NBC6 he is desperately trying to rescue his mother from Cherere Belhumeur from the war-torn island.

Byrd says Belheumer has been driven out of her home by gangs. She was deported from the US in 2007 over immigration issues and now fears for her life.

Byrd said of his mom's predicament: 'It really hurts because it's above me, it's nothing I can really do.' 

The White House is discussing the plans amid fears thousands could try and reach the U.S. to escape the Caribbean nation on the brink of collapse.

Haitians would be processed on the base 200 miles from Haiti in a center separate to Camp X, where terrorist suspects are held, CNN reported.

The Department of Homeland Security says migration from the island being overtaken by gangs is so far low.

Ron DeSantis announced that he will send over 250 additional soldiers - and a fleet of aircraft and boats - to 'protect' Florida from vessels carrying Haitian asylum seekers.

Jill Dolan who runs the Love a Neighbor orphanage in rural Haiti is trapped with three of her children aged 14 to 20

A person pushes a cart past tires set on fire by demonstrators during a protest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 12 March 2024

Police officers take part in an operation on the surroundings of the National Penitentiary following a fire, as a powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would take part in a still-unformed transition council for the country

The conservative governor made the edict Wednesday, as unrest in the Caribbean country continued for a second week.

The deployment will include 48 National Guardsmen, as well as four helicopters that will add to an already boisterous line of defense along the state's southern coast.

A further 39 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 30 from Florida Highway Patrol, and 23 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will also join the front, as well as a litany of aircraft and drones and eight boats.

On Friday Ron DeSantis said he was preparing to 'ward of a potential influx of vessels' form Haiti to Southern Florida that may be 'carrying illegal immigrants.'

'This is not a new operation for us' he told reporters at a press conference on Friday morning. 

'We've been assisting the Coast Guard, who are the primary vehicle to protect the shorelines of the United States.

The federal government has had a level four travel alert in place for Haiti for four years, which advises against all travel to the country and tells anyone in the country to leave as soon as they can.