[ad_1]
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Dozens of migrants unhappy at being deported from the United States to Haiti clashed with authorities as they tried to board a plane that landed on Tuesday afternoon in Port-au-Prince.
A security guard closed the door of the plane just in time as some deportees started throwing shoes at the plane, shouting, “This is abuse! and “How is that possible ?!”
The group which included men and women had disembarked from the second of four flights that arrived on Tuesday, with some temporarily losing their belongings in the scuffle when police arrived. Among those trying to get back on the plane was Maxine Orélien, who blamed the Haitian prime minister for the situation.
“What can we provide for our family? he said. “There is nothing we can do for our family here. There is nothing in this country.
Orélien is one of hundreds of migrants the United States began deporting to Haiti from Sunday, with several more flights slated for the coming days. Many of them left their countries after the devastating earthquake of 2010 and are now worried about how they will find jobs and housing and support their families in a country of more than 11 million people. residents where about 60% earn less than $ 2 per day.
Haiti is also struggling to recover from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7 and a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck the southern region of Haiti in mid-August, killing more than 2 200 people and destroying or damaging tens of thousands of homes.
Those deported with young children are particularly concerned about the recent spike in violence in Port-au-Prince, with gangs controlling about a third of the capital. Kidnappings have become increasingly common, with targets ranging from young schoolchildren to nuns to impoverished families.
Partners in Health, a Boston-based nonprofit, said in a statement Tuesday that it was outraged by what it called the inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers by the US government. He also called for the immediate end of all flights to Haiti.
“During a difficult and dangerous time for Haiti, it is incredibly cruel to send men, women and children back to what many of them no longer even call ‘home’,” the group said. .
The Office for Citizen Protection, similar to Haiti’s ombudsman, has also expressed concern over the plight of migrants, especially women and children, and called for a moratorium on thefts as it criticized Haitian leaders for the state of the country.
“One of the causes of this situation, considered a tragedy, remains the bad governance that has plagued the country for several decades,” he said. “And today, we are witnessing a deterioration in living conditions due to the irresponsibility of the current authorities in the protection and implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.
Meanwhile, the future of thousands of migrants who remain along the Mexico-Texas border is in limbo. US deportation flights are expected to continue as Mexico robs and buses some of the migrants away from the border. So far, more than 6,000 Haitians and other migrants have been removed from an encampment in Del Rio, Texas.
The swift deportations were made possible by a pandemic-related authority adopted by former US President Donald Trump in March 2020 that allows migrants to be immediately deported from the country without the ability to seek asylum. US President Joe Biden exempted unaccompanied children from the order but left the rest in place.
___
AP writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link