U.S. Restarts Deportations to Haiti
Amidst a worsening crisis in Haiti, the U.S. has once again made clear that its so-called concern for the Haitian people is simply for purposes of justifying the foreign intervention that it, along with France, Canada and the rest of the Core Group, is imposing on the Haitian people to block them from exercising control over their own affairs.
On April 18, the U.S. deported some 50 people back to Haiti, the first such deportations since January, according to news agencies, at a time when activities by rival gangs that represent contending factions of Haiti's ruling elite continue to threaten the people's well-being. U.S. Homeland Security said in a statement that it "will continue to enforce U.S. laws and policy throughout the Florida Straits and the Caribbean region, as well as at the southwest border. U.S. policy is to return non-citizens who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States." The New York Times said of the action, "Deportation flights are generally viewed as a way to deter migrants from crossing the southern border without authorization." It added that the deportations come at a time when migrants are crossing the U.S. southern border at a lower rate than before. Among those deported was a man who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years and who lacks any familial ties in Haiti but does have family in the U.S. The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 65 Haitians who were stopped at sea off the Bahamas coast in March.
"This is not only morally wrong and in violation of U.S. and international law, it is simply bad foreign policy," said Guerline Jozef, the head of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a migrant rights group based in San Diego. The alliance said the Biden administration is "knowingly condemning the most vulnerable, who came to us in their time of need, to imminent danger." The alliance and several other rights groups in a February 2023 report entitled Urgent Call to Stop all U.S. Deportations to Haiti explained the violations of U.S. and international law as follows:
"Under U.S. law, all individuals who arrive at the border and express fear of being returned to their home country or who express interest in applying for asylum must be provided access to fear hearings before their removal. These laws are consistent with the principle of non-refoulement, which was established under article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and has since crystalized as a norm of jus cogens under international law." The groups go on to explain the use of Title 42 of the U.S. Code to carry out these deportations, which empowers the government to remove a person who had recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present, "blatantly violates both U.S. law and international law by deporting Haitians to a country that consistently fails to guarantee its citizens the rights to health, food, water, sanitation, movement, and security of persons."
This racist and malicious outlook of the U.S. ruling circles toward the Haitian people, whether living in Haiti or in the U.S. is further confirmed by the fact that the U.S. has warned its own citizens to avoid travel to Haiti and organized several evacuation flights from March to April to get its citizens out of Haiti. Canada has also issued similar travel advisories and organized three evacuation flights from Haiti at the beginning of April.
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 3 - April 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5400322.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca