A Maritime family is divided by the political unrest in Haiti.

A father and one child are home in New Brunswick, while the mother and another child are stuck in Haiti.

Will Callixte and his daughter, Iyanu, arrived in New Brunswick from Haiti earlier this week. His partner, Meghan Balzer and Iyanu's mother, is still in Haiti.

Balzer, a New Brunswick native, is also the legal guardian of a Haitian child named Deo that she has been trying to adopt.

“I’ve been working on Deo's adoption file since 2014,” said Balzer.“It's been a very, very challenging process.”

It's become even more challenging with the political unrest and riots in the country.

“the president don’t have control, the policeman don’t have control,” Callixte said. “It’s confusion.”

Balzer said the violence took a turn for the worse this month “because people feel they are not getting listened to.”

Not only has her adoption process with Deo been put on hold, she also can't get the proper visa or passport she needs to bring him home to Canada.

But they knew they couldn't keep their family in danger, so Callixte brought their daughter Iyanu home to New Brunswick.

“We made the decision to move Iyanu ... just for protection,” Callixte said. “That’s what I want for Deo and Meghan too.”

Balzer says the documents she needs for Deo have been stuck in a pile in Haiti for years. She's now calling on the federal government for help to pull them out.

“I’m asking that the Canadian government consider the vulnerability of the child and the wellbeing of the child and that they also help me as a Canadian citizen put the appropriate pressure on social services to have them pull our file out of the pile,” Balzer said.

Balzer and Deo haven't been able to leave their house since the lockdown began on Feb. 7.

“We would like to be able to move at least temporarily while the situation calms down to a safer environment and to my home,” Balzer said.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kate Walker.