Petition : Appeals to Trump to Extend Protection for Haitians In U.S.

By Atlanta Black Star

New York — A Haitian legislator and a community-based group have launched a petition urging United States President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians living illegally in the United States

In the petition released on Saturday, New York City Council member Dr. Mathieu Eugene, who represents the 40th Council District in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn-based Haitian-American Council for Unity and Empowerment (HACUE) outlined the challenges facing Haiti, including the cholera outbreak, the devastation from multiple natural disasters and efforts to stabilize government institutions.

“We, the undersigned, request that the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security hereby extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti as a humanitarian gesture that will alleviate the country’s socioeconomic burden and ease its recovery,” the petition noted.

In an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation, Eugene said the petition is part of his “ongoing effort to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Haiti while providing Haitians living abroad the opportunity to remain in a stable environment.

“Any country in the world, even a rich country, would find it difficult to recover after several natural disasters,” he said. “I think it makes sense that we, as elected officials and concerned citizens, advocate and work together to ensure that the American government and Homeland Security grant TPS to the Haitian people.

“This act will serve as an important gesture of goodwill and sympathy for Haiti as the country continues to recover and rebuild,” he added.

Last month, the New York City Council passed a resolution, introduced by Eugene, the first Haitian to be elected to the council, requesting that the Secretary of Homeland Security renew TPS for undocumented Haitian nationals.

Earlier this month, Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that would dramatically expand the TPS program to include all Haitian nationals who were in the United States prior to Nov. 4, 2016.

Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told the CMC that the bill would grant 18 months of TPS to every eligible Haitian.

She said TPS for Haitian nationals living in the United States was established after the Jan. 12, 2010, devastating earthquake in Haiti “to start the process of recovery and to provide invaluable support in the form of remittances to family members there.

RENE PREVAL: A FUNERAL THAT LASTED THREE DAYS!

René Préval monopolized the nation’s daily life, for three whole days.

All current events were pushed aside. The ongoing negotiations for the Parliament to approve the Prime Minister’s proposed policies were put on hold. Even crime and violence, which have become all too common in the country, seemed to come to a halt.

René Préval died 8 days prior on March 3rd, 2017 at around noon.

The cause of his death is still unknown because an initial autopsy has ruled out the theory of a heart attack or a stroke.

Tissue samples were sent for biopsy to Canada, and we are awaiting the results.

But this did not prevent his funeral from taking place – a funerals in three parts!

First a welcome reception of the president’s friends during an unforgettable evening in the Gardens of the Karibe Convention Center, with Dr. Jean Joseph Molière as a host who, like “Ti René”, is a faithful of the band “Jazz des Jeunes.”

The band was present for this special evening, and played its beloved songs throughout the night, to a very appreciative audience.

The next day, Friday March 10th, was the viewing at the MUPANAH. The Gardens of the Museum for the Heroes lent themselves well to such a ceremony. It was the first time that this space was used in such a manner, and the artist Philippe Dodard was present to oversee all phases of its transformation which included a staging area where family and friends were seated while at the very bottom, a crypt with the president’s open casket allows friends and relatives to say goodbye.

On the third day, there was a religious ceremony, followed by a civil ceremony where the daughter of the deceased, Patricia Préval, gave a moving tribute to her father with a clear and firm voice.

The Preval clan, including relatives and friends from everywhere then set off to Marmalade, the president’s hometown, where he was eventually buried.

The four-hour funeral procession through mountains and hills went smoothly. On both sides of the road, along the cities of Saintard, Arcahaie, St. Marc, Pont Sondé, l‘Estère, Gonaïves, Passe Reine, people stood by to pay their respect one last time to their beloved leader.

Upon the arrival in Marmalade, among beautiful bamboo decorations, the president was finally put to rest.

Three gunshots marked his departure for eternity.

To address one of his last concerns, Preval had 250 copies of the book “Haïti Déforesté, Paysages Remodelés” by Alex Bellande reprinted recently, at his own expense.

It is as if it is the will and testament that he wanted to leave to the nation.

What if we reached a peace accord with one another in order to first read this book, and later apply its recommendations? We have a country which could have a rich agricultural production. But first someone would have to take the lead. Someone who would be close to the peasant sector and who would have the means to start the relaunching of our agricultural production.

Isn’t it worth it?

We could stop ordering all kinds of foreign agricultural products which crowd our supermarket shelves. These products, which come from abroad, would then be taxed accordingly to protect our own agricultural production.

The deceased president could have done this, but he didn’t. Perhaps, from the grave, is he asking to relaunch this effort?

Isn’t it worth trying?

A country cannot survive by continually seeing its children in search of a better life elsewhere. What if we all pitched in, and created opportunities for them to stay home in their own country? Elsie Etheart (Haiti en Marche)

Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the death of René Préval, former President of Haiti

Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the death of René Préval, former President of Haiti

Ottawa, Ontario

March 4, 2017

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the death of René Préval, former President of Haiti:

“It is with sadness that I learned of the death of René Préval, a two-term president of Haiti.

“Mr. Préval was first elected as President in 1996. He left office in 2001, becoming Haiti’s first elected president to serve a full term, before returning to the presidency for another full term in 2006.

“Canada will remember his commitment to democracy as we continue to support Haiti’s development, and work with the Haitian people to address the economic and humanitarian challenges facing their country.

“On behalf of the Government of Canada, Sophie and I offer our condolences to Mr. Préval’s family and friends, and to the Haitian people.”

Congresswoman Wilson On The Passing of Former Haitian President René Préval

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson issued the following statement on the passing of former President René Préval: 

 “I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Haiti’s former President René Préval on Friday, March 3, 2017.  My constituents, especially members of District 24’s Haitian community, join me in sending our heartfelt condolences to his family and to the people of Haiti who are mourning his loss. President Préval will be best remembered for having achieved what no other Haitian leader has thus far, and that is to serve a full term and then transfer power to an elected successor. Moreover, he did so not once, but twice. Before a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, the year before the end of his second term, the nation’s political environment was stable and its economy was growing at the second-fastest rate in the hemisphere. Both improvements were thanks to President Préval’s leadership. May he rest in peace.”

After lengthy mission, UN peacekeeper pullout looms in Haiti

  • By DAVID MCFADDEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

A few dozen Brazilian troops wearing the blue helmets of the U.N. military force stroll through a dense warren of shacks in Haiti's most notorious slum, facing no greater threat than a few barking dogs along some of the same streets where pitched gunbattles between gangs and peacekeepers used to be a daily occurrence.

Years of easygoing patrols like the one on this recent afternoon in the steamy seaside district of Cite Soleil is a clear sign to many both in Haiti and around the world that it's time to wrap up a U.N. force that has been cycling through this Caribbean country since a 2004 rebellion engulfed Haiti in violence.

"We have a secure and stable environment," Col. Luis Antonio Ferreira Marques Ramos, deputy commander of the Brazilian peacekeeper contingent, told The Associated Press. "The important thing is to leave in a good way."

With a steady downsizing of Haiti peacekeeping operations in recent years and the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump pushing for cutbacks, the U.N. is looking at sending home 2,358 soldiers from 19 contributing countries, perhaps within months. U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said during a recent trip to Haiti that the military component "is likely to disappear in the relatively near future," though officials have not spoken publicly about the roughly 2,200 foreign police who accompany them.

Washington, the Haiti mission's main check-writer, is also applying pressure as it reviews all 16 U.N. peacekeeping missions. A diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the conversations were private, has told the AP that the new U.S. ambassador to the United NationsNikki Haley, has spoken about winding up the Haiti peacekeeping operation, which is known by its French acronym, MINUSTAH.

"MINUSTAH in Haiti is a very good example of a mission that has basically done its job. So we'll be very happy for that one to close down," Britain's U.N. ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, said at a news conference at the world body's headquarters in New York.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to decide on a reconfiguration of the $346 million-a-year U.N. mission in mid-April after reviewing Ladsous' recommendations.

Still, sending troops packing does not mean the end of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

Operations such as UNICEF and the World Food Program also would remain. And analysts say officials are considering keeping the civilian staff in place along with a U.N. police component to continue building up and training the Haitian National Police.

"This would be unprecedented in U.N. peacekeeping history. Normally, police only serve in peacekeeping missions with military support and backup. But it's a creative option to reduce the mission's size and cost as MINUSTAH gradually works toward a full exit," said Aditi Gorur, who researches peacekeeping issues as a director of the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

The U.N.'s first-ever "stabilization" mission came to Haiti in 2004 following a rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and had the chronically troubled country on the brink of collapse. There were daily deadly clashes among gangs loyal to Aristide's faction, rebels and ex-soldiers, and rogue police. A wave of killings and kidnappings followed, aimed at destabilizing a U.S.-backed interim government.

For years, uniformed U.N. troops provided the only real security.

But these days, Haiti's police do most of the heavy lifting and the mood has changed. It took U.N. peacekeepers three years to gain control over the sprawling district of Cite Soleil, but it's now placid even though its residents still live in desperate poverty.

AP journalists recently joined a few dozen U.N. peacekeepers and four Haitian police officers on an uneventful foot patrol and checkpoint duty in a Cite Soleil neighborhood once controlled by gangs.

"The job was well done!" Brazilian Capt. Leandro Vieira Barboza told the Haitian officers during a pep talk following the joint patrol. "I'm sure after the mission ends your good work will continue."

Amid relative stability, Haitian lawmakers argue it is time for Haiti to finally manage all of its own security affairs.

"The government needs to negotiate MINUSTAH's departure as soon as possible," said Sen. Patrice Dumont, who represents the West department, which contains about 40 percent of Haiti's electorate.

President Jovenel Moise and legislative leaders say the vastly improved police force is not enough. They want a real military to replace the army that was abolished in 1995 after a long history of coups and human rights abuses. They say a reconstituted army would create jobs, protect borders and assist during natural disasters.

With coffers so depleted that many public workers aren't getting paid, creating a new military would require sustained international support, said Jake Johnston, a researcher for the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

But Kenneth Merten, the U.S. State Department's special coordinator for Haiti, said that "it would be difficult to imagine U.S. financial support for recreating the Haitian military."

On a recent day in Cite Soleil, home to over 400,000 people, a group of men sat in the shade and gazed at Brazilian soldiers stopping motorists at a checkpoint. They broke into laughter when asked about their political leaders' military ambitions. Weeks before leaving office in February 2016, then-President Michel Martelly passed a decree to reinstate the army, but a real one doesn't exist.

"Where are they going to get money to pay them? How do you think hungry Haitian soldiers are going to act?" said Jonas Nicolas, a baker who is old enough to remember military-sponsored deaths squads. "No, I like the U.N. guys with our police."

Other Haitians, however, see U.N. peacekeepers as an occupying force. "I don't like seeing foreigners with guns driving around my country," said Jean Acao, who sells snacks from a roadside perch.

The peacekeepers' tenure has been rocky. They have earned praise for boosting security, paving the way to elections and providing crucial support after disasters, particularly the devastating 2010 earthquake. But some troops have also been accused of excessive force, rape and abandoning babies they fathered.

They will undoubtedly be remembered most for inadvertently introducing recent history's deadliest cholera outbreak because of inadequate sanitation at a base used by Nepalese peacekeepers.

Some Haitians are bitter the lengthy peacekeeping experience hasn't met their expectations regardless of the fact that building up institutions and stabilizing fragile countries like Haiti can take a long time.

"Shouldn't Haiti be better after all these years of MINUSTAH and international support?" caterer Stevenson Belizaire asked as he walked past a trash-clogged canal.

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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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