UN expert urges US not to deport thousands back to hurricane-ravaged Haiti

UN expert urges US not to deport thousands back to hurricane-ravaged Haiti


6 March 2009 –An independent United Nations human rights expert today asked the United States Government to reconsider deporting tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants in light of the physical and financial damage inflicted on the impoverished Caribbean nation by a series of hurricanes last August.

In a news release issued in Geneva, Michel Forst voiced deep concern at reports that the US Department of Homeland Security, and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is planning to deport the immigrants.

According to a recent evaluation cited by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Haiti, Hédi Annabi, the four back-to-back storms that struck the country from mid-August to mid-September “comprehensively destroyed what little infrastructure there was.”

A total of some 800,000 Haitians either lost their homes entirely or were badly affected by the storms which also left 800 people dead.

In addition, the global financial crisis has worsened a food emergency brought about by the widespread destruction of the country’s crops during the hurricanes, and critical infrastructure, including bridges and roads, have been wiped out. The storms are believed to have destroyed around 15 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“Considering the extent of the damage to homes, schools, roads, bridges and businesses in Haiti, it is highly unlikely that sufficient repairs can be carried out in time for this year’s hurricane season, and as a result many thousands of Haitians will be left without protection,” Mr. Forst said.

Mr. Forst has written to the Secretary of Homeland Security, urging the Government to reconsider its decision. “While acknowledging that the hurricanes and storms that drowned low-lying parts of Haiti in mud and misery had been ‘severe,’ you have concluded on the basis of recommendations provided by the US administration that ‘Haiti does not currently warrant a Temporary Protected Status (TPS),’” he noted.

When other countries in the region have been struck by natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, with similar devastating impact to the destruction inflicted on Haiti, those countries have been granted TPS, Mr. Forst added.

“It would therefore be normal to continue to provide support and assistance to all undocumented Haitian migrants living in the US, until the situation has improved in their homeland,” he said.

According to many experts, TPS is the least expensive and most immediate form of humanitarian assistance the US could provide to Haiti, since it would allow the Haitian Government to invest all its limited resources in reconstruction, and the redevelopment of its struggling economy.

L'administration américaine est responsable de ce chantage autour de nos 30 milles frères et soeurs qui doivent rentrer dans le pays. Ni La Dominicanie, ni les Bahamas n'ont utilisé un quelconque document de voyage lorsqu'ils doivent rapatrier des Haitiens, alors pourquoi les Américains font-ils ce chantage?

Pourquoi veulent-ils garder nos frères et soeurs en prison indéfiniment?

Pitit pa janm tro lou pou manman ak papa, ou anko chaj pa konn tro lou pou mèt li. Yo mèt voye moun yo tounen e lè yo rive lakay yap jwen yon bagay kan mènm pou yo fè. Sispann imilie nou nan prizon e fè tout moun ap vini mande yon chans, pou nou kap fè nou parèt pi ti grangou ke jan nou ye a.

Give Haitians a fair chance


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Published Thursday, March 5, 2009
In terms of natural disasters, 2008 was catastrophic for Haiti. It was hit by four back-to-back hurricanes that killed hundreds of people and made tens of thousands of others homeless. Roads were wiped out and crops were destroyed, leaving 300,000 children facing malnutrition. Dirty flood waters have put thousands of residents at risk of cholera, hepatitis and malaria. On top of all that, a wrecked economy, high crime and political turmoil have made this Caribbean nation a place of extreme human misery, forcing thousands to flee to the United States for relief.
Given these circumstances, it's hard to understand why the Department of Homeland Security has ordered the deportation of 30,000 undocumented Haitians and has refused to grant them "temporary protected status," or TPS. With TPS, Haitians could live and work here legally while their country tries to recover and build its economy. Yet the Obama administration told advocates this week that the Department of Homeland Security intends to continue to deport Haitians. The administration needs to reconsider.

Temporary protected status, which is granted in 18-month increments to those without criminal histories, isn't new. The United States gives it to immigrants from countries torn apart by natural disaster and violence. It's been granted to thousands of Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans who fled hurricanes, earthquakes and war.

Some of these nationals have been in the United States for 10 years, because their 18-month stints always are renewed.

President Bush stopped deporting Haitians temporarily last September while Homeland Security considered a TPS request from the Haitian government. The request was denied in December, and the deportations resumed at a faster pace.

Haiti's president, Rene Preval, and U.S. lawmakers — including U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings of Miramar and Kendrick Meek of Miami, are urging President Obama to reconsider the TPS request.

For its part, the Haitian government refuses to issue travel papers to deportees, leaving thousands in limbo here and causing confusion and desperation on the island.

This is a humanitarian crisis that will grow worse if the United States remains calloused and shortsighted in its treatment of citizens of one of its nearest neighbors, which happens to be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

There is no good reason to deny temporary protected status to Haitians while their country struggles to recover.

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