Turks and Caicos: the islands where Daniel Muñoz bought land and is now the center of a migratory battle

PROVIDENCIALES / CAP HAITIANO (AFP) .- With its white sand and turquoise waters, the islands of the Caribbean Turks and Caicos embody for many the idea of ​​paradise. For others, as revealed this week Carolina Pochetti, widow of the former secretary of Kirchner

Daniel Muñoz

and treated in the cause of

bribe notebooks,

represented an opportunity for
the purchase of land and money laundering.

But now, the flood of thousands of illegal Haitian migrants, who see in this British archipelago the possibility of a better life, have turned the Turks and Caicos Islands into a postcard of the chaos of illegal immigration into the Caribbean.

"We have asked the UK to help us, I do not think they are aware of the urgency of the situation," said Archipelago Housing Minister Goldray Ewing .

"As a British territory, we do not have our own defense forces, we told them that it was an invasion and a national crisis, it was there is no other way to describe it, "he adds.

Every year, thousands of young Haitians are trying to flee the poorest Caribbean economy, where 60% of its 11 million people live on less than $ 2 a day.

Inflation, endemic corruption and the decline in the value of money have plunged Haitians even further into misery.

The drama of the boats

Officials from the Turks and Caicos Islands said that almost all boats arriving in the chain of islands leave the district of Cap Haitien, located 200 km.

With immigrants willing to pay between $ 300 and $ 1,000 to reach the territory of 35,000 residents with the hope of a better life, boats are a big deal.

At least five boats arrived in the last month, each carrying between 50 and 200 people. But travel aboard these fragile and overcrowded ships often ends in disaster.

The sinking of a ship on February 2 near the Bahamas, which is also fighting against the influx of undocumented immigrants, has killed at least 28 people.

Turks and Caicos officials said their limited resources barely allowed them to intercept half of the incoming ships.

It is estimated that several thousand Haitians are hiding in the poorest neighborhoods of the island of Providenciales, the point of tourist access to the chain, where 24,000 people live.

The arrival of undocumented immigrants is not new, but recent unrest in Haiti and new job opportunities in Providenciales have caused a dramatic increase.

Ewing says the costs of repatriating a boat arrived on the island of Cayo Sal on Jan. 17 with 187 people on board exceeding $ 300,000.

"Existential threat"

Opposition leader, Washington Misick, argued that one could not count on the Haitian government to stop the flow of migrants, noting that their economy was receiving remittances that they sent home.

"The situation is an existential threat to our islands and our way of life," he said.

Haitians eager to make this trip say that it is their only hope for a better future. "I need work," says a Cap Haitian man. "And I know people who can help me find it."

A delegation from the British government will arrive in the archipelago in March to badess the need for maritime security, a spokesman for Gov. John Freeman told AFP, adding that last year, London had deployed the Royal Navy, financed helicopter patrols and carried out repairs. radar system.

Measures

The US President's effort

Donald Trump

Ending the "temporary protection status" of Haitians who fled the 2010 earthquake in their country, currently under review in the courts, has raised fears about a possible escalation of the crisis.

For its part, the 14 slums of the Turks and Caicos Islands are growing every day, says Ewing. Newcomers are causing difficulties for long-time residents, said one resident of these villages. "The area is flooded with people recently arriving from the boats and they are not always friendly," he told AFP. "Sometimes they bring weapons with them, it's terrifying for us, people keep coming."

To identify people who are illegally on the islands, the police make arrests and searches, as well as visits to workplaces to view employee documents.

Since April 2016, anyone harboring illegal immigrants has been fined $ 20,000 and four years in prison.

Some Haitian officials have lamented the lack of communication with the island authorities. "People are deported and we do not know who they are or where they are going when they return home," said a spokesman for the Haitian Consulate in Providenciales. "As a result, we find that the same people are trying again and again."

A housekeeper from Cap-Haitien, who requested anonymity, said that she had tried three times to travel to Providenciales, but that the US Coast Guard had intercepted her at each time and had to return.

In all three cases, it took a year to recover the $ 300 that cost him every attempt, but he knows that if he succeeds, he will be able to earn his usual monthly salary of $ 100 in a day or two.

When asked if he will try again, he looks down at the floor before tentatively replying, "Yes, everyone is missing at home, but it's worth finding a happier life."

The link with Argentina. Carolina Pochetti, widow of Daniel Muñoz, revealed this week that Judge Luis Rodríguez, who was investigating the marriage for his appearance before the

Panama Papers,

he recommended them
"sell everything" before the release of this survey. The former private secretary's environment considered the recommendation as valid and sold the 16 properties they owned through their representatives in the United States and invested 30 million US dollars in the Turks Islands and Caicos.