Attorney urges end to forced returns as more Haitians land
Published:Tuesday | May 21, 2024 | 12:09 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
Hectors River, Portland:
Up to last night it was not yet clear what decision would be made on the fate of the eight Haitians who landed in the dead of night at a beach in Hectors River, Portland, on Sunday.
The eight Haitian nationals were picked up by the police at separate locations in Hectors River during a predawn operation, which lasted for several hours, and are believed to be part of a larger group that has allegedly filtered into communities in eastern Portland.
The lawmen reportedly combed the remote areas of several adjoining communities in an attempt to apprehend more Haitians, who they suspected may have fled the 20-foot sail boat, which was found along the beach at the Under the Rock beach complex near the border of Portland and St Thomas.
Yesterday, Malene Alleyne, head of Freedom Imaginaries, a lobby for Haitians, told The Gleaner that she was at the Portland Parish Court at Bryan’s Bay waiting to see a judge in order to make an urgent application for a stay for the Haitians who were being processed at the Port Antonio Police Station by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA).
“There are Haitians now at the Port Antonio Police Station and an inspector confirmed that there are Haitians here,” Alleyne told The Gleaner yesterday afternoon.
“I was told that there are two others who are still at the Port Antonio Hospital and I have requested to have access to them to provide them legal assistance. I was told that PICA is in the process of screening them and that I would have to wait until that process is over. So what I take from that is the statement that they are not allowed legal representation at this point. I have to wait for PICA to finish.
“So I was literally sitting outside of the Port Antonio Police Station waiting to have access to the Haitians. I am always denied access and it’s something that we have challenged, including in the court, and so I am hoping that the various actions that we filed in court will have a chilling effect on what has been a practice of denying access to legal assistance.”
According to Alleyne, in early January she brought the matter to the attention of a parish court judge, who made an order that the Haitians in that case were to have access to legal representation. Alleyne said she was hoping that, as they move along in the court system, the practice of denying Haitians legal representation when they arrive in Jamaica will be stamped out.
UN moratorium
“The United Nations Refugee Agency is so alarmed at what is happening in Haiti that it has not only issued a call for a moratorium on forced returns, but it has issued detailed guidance on what the situation is in Haiti and how states are to respond to Haitians. And the UN (United Nations) is very clear that there is to be a halt on forced returns of Haitian nationals to Haiti at this time, even if they don’t meet the definition of refugee.
“Just stop the forced return and provide humanitarian assistance, that’s what the UN said. We are doing the exact opposite. Jamaica’s policy is one of rapid forced returns without even allowing them to access asylum procedures. My count is that well over 90 (Haitians) were returned between July and December just last year. And I know that returns have happened since this year, it’s just that it is happening under the cloud of darkness,” she added.
On Monday, a team from the Ministry of Health & Wellness carried out fogging of the Haitian sail boat and discovered items of clothing belonging to women and children. The discovery, which was deemed valuable evidence, has since raised questions among public officials as the eight Haitians in custody are men.
It is against that background that the police have intensified their search for other Haitians missing from the boat who might have got assistance from local sympathisers.
In the meantime, there are reports that as many as 35 to 40 Haitian boat people might have landed on the beach in Hectors River and that up to yesterday the majority of them have managed to elude the police.
Since last year, approximately 127 Haitians have landed in Portland, with only one group, comprising 37, afforded a stay at Robin’s Bay in St Mary. However, that group’s application for asylum was in February denied by the Government.