THE PRESIDENT OF PANAMA IS DELIGHTED AT THE U.S.’s DECISION TO DEPORT HAITIAN MIGRANTS
Last Friday, the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, expressed his confidence that the flow of the Haitian migrants in Central America will further decrease due to the decision of the United States to reactivate the deportation of Haitian without papers.
Varela reminded that the American Government decided to eliminate the migratory advantages granted to Haitian after the earthquake of 2010, which will allow the deportation of those who enter the U.S. in an irregular way. "One way or another, it is going to discourage the flow of Haitians," underlined Varela at the end of a meeting of polices chiefs of the Americas in Panama.
It should be reminded that several thousand Haitians have tried to reach the United States via Central America during the last few months. Most of them migrated to Brazil after the 2010 earthquake, but the economic decline of the South American giant forced them to look for opportunities in the United States. According to Panamanian authorities, every year, more than 30,000 immigrants from Haiti, Cuba and countries in Asia and Africa, cross Central America and Mexico for the United States.
The Haitians had their path blocked due to Nicaragua’s refusal to allow them to pass, which left them waiting in Costa Rica, Panama and in Colombia...
Although the Panamanian Government closed its border in the inhospitable jungle of Darien, the migrants continued to come, in spite of the risks to which they could be exposed - violence, theft and extortion by traffickers and other criminal groups.
The Panamanian government set up three camps for about 3,000 migrants on the border with Colombia.
U.S. to Step Up Deportations of Haitians Amid Surge at Border
By KIRK SEMPLESEPT. 22, 2016
Message: turn around or go elsewhere
MEXICO CITY — The Obama administration, responding to an extraordinary wave of Haitian migrants seeking to enter the United States, said on Thursday that it would fully resume deportations of undocumented Haitian immigrants.
After an earthquake devastated parts of Haiti in 2010, the United States suspended deportations, saying that sending Haitians back to the country at a time of great instability would put their lives at risk. About a year later, officials partly resumed deportations, focusing on people convicted of serious crimes or those considered a threat to national security.
But since last spring, thousands of Haitian migrants who had moved to Brazil in search of work have been streaming north, mostly by land, winding up at American border crossings that lead to Southern California.
Few have arrived with American visas, but nearly all have been allowed to enter the United States because immigration officials were prohibited, under the modified deportation policy, from using the so-called fast-track removal process often employed at the border for new, undocumented arrivals.
Instead, the migrants were placed in a slower deportation process and released, with an appointment to appear in immigration court at a later date, officials said. Since early summer, most have been given permission to remain in the country for as long as three years under a humanitarian parole provision, immigrant advocates said.
With the full resumption of deportations, which took effect on Thursday morning, Haitians who arrive at the border without visas will be put into expedited removal proceedings.
Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement that conditions in Haiti had “improved sufficiently to permit the U.S. government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis.”
While Mr. Johnson’s statement did not mention the recent influx of Haitians along the southwestern border, Homeland Security officials, during a conference call with reporters, cited the migrant wave as the other major factor in the administration’s decision.
Since last October, officials said, more than 5,000 Haitians without visas have shown up at the San Ysidro crossing that links Tijuana, Mexico, with San Diego. By comparison, 339 Haitians without visas arrived at the San Ysidro crossing in the 2015 fiscal year.
An additional 4,000 to 6,000 Haitians were thought to be making their way from Brazil, immigrant advocates in San Diego and Tijuana said, based on estimates from shelters along the Brazil-to-Mexico migration route.
The message to those Haitians from the Obama administration, however, seems clear: Turn around or go elsewhere.
An uptick in deportations might not occur immediately. Removals require the cooperation of and paperwork from the receiving country, and Homeland Security officials said they were still in talks with the Haitian government about the policy shift.
In the meantime, officials said, nearly all Haitians stopped at the border and scheduled for accelerated deportations will be put into detention centers.
Officials clarified, however, that asylum law would continue to apply to newly arriving Haitians. A migrant who feared returning to Haiti because of the threat of persecution or torture would be interviewed to determine whether that fear was credible. If an immigration officer determined it was, the immigrant could apply for asylum.
Haitian immigrants covered by temporary protected status would be unaffected by the change in policy.
Over the summer, the unusual surge in Haitian migrants was accompanied by an equally unusual surge in migrants from more than two dozen other countries, nearly all traveling along the same arduous routes from South America, across as many as 10 borders.
Costa Rica gets 100 illegal immigrants a day hoping to get to U.S.
By Hugh Bronstein
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - More than 100 illegal immigrants are entering the small Central American country of Costa Rica every day, looking for "coyotes" to take them across the Nicaraguan border and on toward the United States, President Luis Solis said on Friday.
Eighty-five percent of the new arrivals are from Haiti by way of Brazil, where many settled after Haiti's 2010 earthquake, but whose construction jobs have disappeared now that the Rio Olympics are over and the country wallows in recession, Solis said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
"The phenomenon has shifted quite significantly," Solis said.
His government has set up centers that offer the migrants basic shelter and food, before they take the day-long bus trip through Costa Rica to the Nicaraguan frontier. Nicaragua does not allow the migrants to enter, so they are forced into the world of "coyotes," or illegal guides, often linked to criminal gangs.
Solis said the 15 percent of arrivals who are not Haitians are Cubans as well as Africans and Asians who make their way across the Atlantic to Brazil, and then trudge through Colombia and Panama to get to Costa Rica.
"Migration is a global phenomenon and it is not new. But something unexpected is happening, a refurbished flow of migrants is on the move in Latin America," Solis said.
So far, Solis said, Costa Rica can handle the inflow and outflow of immigrants passing through the country.
The United States, however, responding to a surge in Haitian immigrants, will end special protections for them dating back to the devastating 2010 earthquake, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.
"What if they start deciding to stay in Costa Rica after hearing that the United States has changed its tolerance policy and is going to start deporting them?" Solis said. "That's a concern."
More than 5,000 Haitians have entered the United States without visas this fiscal year through Oct. 1, according to Department of Homeland Security officials, up from 339 in fiscal year 2015.
Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, said this week that Haiti's economy and democracy must be fortified in order to stanch the rapid outflow of people from the impoverished island nation.
In February, Michel Martelly stepped down as president of Haiti without a successor. New elections are scheduled for Oct. 9. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Leslie Adler)
WHAT PRESIDENT PRIVERT SAID ABOUT THE MIGRANTS CRISIS DURING HIS SPEECH TO UNITED NATIONS
While speaking at the United Nations, President Privert recently said that he was concerned about the Haitian migrant crisis and added that the Haitian government would offer substantial measures to assist the host countries. “We believe we are taking all possible measures to fight against the traffickers who are abusing these people of good faith who are fleeing the poverty and misery”.
In his speech, Privert also said: “The Haitian delegation is aware of the reoccurring number of our Haitian compatriots who leave the country in search of a better life. Our delegation understands and takes note of the legitimate concerns expressed to this body by representatives of certain host or transit countries. This human crisis calls for concrete decisions and measures to offer the Haitian people new opportunities and a better life. To achieve this, the country needs political stability, the establishment of an infrastructure that will boost development, a system that respects the rule of law, and a better understanding of the major socio-economic challenges that the country is facing. We have begun a dialogue with some of the host countries in search of common solutions. ”
Haiti: The investigation on the seizure of weapons in St-Marc progresses
Camille Edouard Jr., the Minister of Justice, advised that the investigation on the major arms shipment discovered on September 8 in Saint-Marc is progressing satisfactorily. He announced that the sender and recipient have been identified and will be arrested soon, stating that as part of this investigation, Interpol's collaboration was requested.
For his part, Prime Minister Jean-Charles, also Head of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN), confirmed that the authorities are already able to identify the origin of these weapons and their destination, highlighting that "The situation is sensitive to the point that we do not want to reveal certain information," confirming that there is a name circulating, while avoiding revealing whether it is a trafficker or not. He promised that those involved in arms trafficking will soon be apprehended.
François Anick Joseph, Minister of Interior and Territorial Communities, explained the silence of the authorities about the investigation into the seizure of weapons in Saint Marc, by the necessity not to harm the ongoing investigation. He confirmed that investigators from the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,and Firearms (BATF) are working with the scientific police of the National Police of Haiti (PNH). He warned against rushing in connection and pay attention to homonyms and find the real concerned. In addition, police are looking for two people, including a customs agent of Saint-Marc, who are currently on the run.
Haiti-disaster / Tornado to Saint Michel de l' Attalaye
In the afternoon of Friday, September 23rd, 2016, a violent tornado struck the urban area of Saint Michel de l'Attalaye. There was no loss of human life but the damages were significant.
More than 40 houses were destroyed, some people were hurt and farms were ravaged. The affected localities are: Nan Citron, Nan Calvaire, Nan Silo and the bottom of the municipal cemetery.
According to information from the local mayor, Gueilllant Dorcinvil, local authorities have been in touch with the victims of this tornado to in an effort to quickly meet their needs.