Montreal’s Haitian community is watching with great concern as protesters in their native country clash with police.

For a fourth day in a row, riots unfolded in the capital Port-au-Prince, where unrest follows a government plan to sharply raise the price of fuel.

“Such a drastic hike is impossible. The president has to rethink this move if he wants to regain control of the country,” said Jean-Ernest Pierre of community radio station CPAM, serving the city’s 132,000 Haitian Montrealers.

The federal government has issued an advisory warning Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Haiti. Some in the Haitian community in Montreal say Ottawa must do more for migrants as well.

For 12 years, following political instability and the 2010 devastating earthquake, Canada imposed a ban on deporting people back to Haiti.

That ban was lifted two years ago.

Marjorie Villefranche director of Maison d’Haiti, a local Haitian community group, said she hopes it is reinstated.

“How can you say that you are closing your embassy and asking people not to travel and say that you are going to send back the asylum seekers in their country. If it's so safe, why, why are you doing this?” said Villefranche.