‘Give Paperless Haitians Temporary Asylum’
HAITIAN TIMES
HAITIAN Chargé d’Affaires Dorval Darlier wants the Bahamas government to grant temporary asylum to undocumented migrants affected by Hurricane Dorian.
This, he asserted yesterday, was the best way to assist devastated Haitians living in Grand Bahama and Abaco to rebuild their lives after losing everything to Dorian’s destruction.
His comments came days after North Eleuthera MP Hank Johnson was caught on video by a Florida reporter arguing about the picture being painted of how the Bahamas government is treating Haitian evacuees. Mr Johnson insisted migrant storm victims are being treated fairly and accused a group of Haitians evacuees of complaining.
Meanwhile, Mr Darlier appealed to the government yesterday to enforce a mandatory evacuation in Abaco, telling The Tribune some storm victims were refusing to leave despite mounting health concerns.
However, the chargé said he had no idea just how many people from various Abaco shanty towns were still alive or dead in the aftermath of the storm as the government had not yet communicated its findings regarding those communities.
But what he was certain of yesterday was the larger communities – the Mudd and Pigeon Peas – were completely wiped out, leaving many missing and families desperate to find loved ones.
“I’ve been to the Mudd and Pigeon Peas, that does not exist anymore. There is no Mudd, there is no Pigeon Peas,” Mr Darlier said.
“I go around down there. The reason I went is because they say Haitians shooting at people. It’s not true. I go around but I don’t see no one.
“It’s like a ghost town. My major concern is how are all those people going to be relocated? Some who have insurance, it’s easy for them to get back, but those who don’t, what is going to happen to them? What is the plan for them?
“I think both governments have to sit together to see what plan they can do just for them, especially for those who have nowhere to go.
Bahamas: Naomi Osaka rescues victims of Hurricane Dorian
Tennis woman Naomi Osaka has decided to help the thousands of victims of Hurricane of victims of Hurricane Dorian that devastate the Bahamas. The Japanese made the announcement on Twitter, without mentioning the details of the donations.
“I donate to the Red Cross to help relief in the Bahamas” tweeted the 21-year-old Grand Slam Champion Double. I invite other interested parties to do the same in order to assst those affected by an increasing number of victims. According to the authorities, more than 76 thousand people are affected in the Abacos Islands where Dorian destroyed 90% of the housing.
More than a week after the Bahamas was hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, which claimed 50 lives, several personalities and great fortunes have responded to the appeals for donations launched by humanitarian and religious organizations all over the world to relieve the victims.
That’s how the NBA legend, Michael Jordan, announced at the beginning of a week a donation of $1 million. The basketball player was followed by singer Lenny Kravitz who also announced donations on social networks.
It must be remembered that the search continues to find missing persons including many Haitians.
At the same time, Haitians continue to complain about the treatment they have been receiving since Dorian. «Since this morning, I have had only one cup of tea» complains Blondel Vincent, a Bahamian of Haitian origin. “I don’t know what to say and what to do. I need help,” he added.
Hurricane Dorian: Trump Administration Reportedly Won’t Extend Temporary Protected Status To Bahamians
WASHINGTON, HAITIAN TIMES – The Trump administration reportedly will not grant temporary protected status to Bahamians impacted by Hurricane Dorian, according to CNN and NBC.
Temporary protected status would allow Bahamians to work and live in the United States until it is safe enough for them to return. As CNN explained: “TPS applies to people who would face extreme hardship if forced to return to homelands devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters, therefore the protections are limited to people already in the United States.”
TPS has been granted after other natural disasters , including for Haitians following the devastating earthquake in 2010.
The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus criticized the administration. “There are thousands of Bahamian families who deserve the full unquestioning and unwavering support of the United States government during this difficult time,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said in a statement, adding This is a matter of life or death and this President is failing to lead.”
The reported development follows days of confusion as top federal officials have offered conflicting statements regarding Bahamians seeking refuge in the U.S. and the documentation they may be required to have.
Bahamas government denies reports it discouraged Dorian aid to shattered Abaco Islands
Death toll rises to at least 50 in the Bahamas
Hurricane death toll rises in the Bahamas; Ellison Barber reports.
The Bahamian government has denied allegations that officials are rejecting or stalling aid for the Abaco Islands in a bid to pressure remaining residents to evacuate.
Three sources working with nonprofits told Fox News on Tuesday that Bahamian officials encouraged them to hold off on delivering items like generators and water filtration systems to the Abaco Islands, which were devastated by Hurricane Dorian last week.
A spokesman for the Bahama’s emergency management agency, NEMA, told Fox News the claims are inaccurate.
Island of 50,000 People in the Bahamas Is 70% Under Water
An island in the Bahamas that’s home to 50,000 people is 70% under water after Hurricane Dorian battered it with record force for two days, according to the government.
There are “still many outstanding rescue missions,” on the island of Grand Bahama, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kevin Peter Turnquest said, in reply to written questions. “It’s not looking good as we expect catastrophic damage.”
Seaports and airports in Grand Bahama and the nearby Abaco Islands are flooded or damaged, complicating the task of rescuing people cut off by flood waters.
The National Emergency Management Agency sent out an “urgent plea” for owners of equipment such as flatbeds, jet skis, small boats, trucks and buses to assemble at a shopping mall on Grand Bahama to help with the rescue operation.
The U.S. Coast Guard and British Royal Navy sent ships to assist.
Unprecedented
The storm is now traveling northwest away from the archipelago at nearly 5 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 2 p.m. New York time.
It could potentially hit the East Coast of the U.S.
At least five people died in the storm, but National Security Minister Marvin Dames said this figure is likely to rise, and will include some children, according to a report in the Nassau Guardian, a local newspaper.
Humanitarian aid organizations estimate 13,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in the Bahamas, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands between them have about 2,250 of the 17,500 hotel rooms in the Bahamas, Resort Capital Partners, a real estate investment advisory firm that covers the region, said in reply to emailed questions.
The severity of the storm impact on Grand Bahama and Abaco over the last two days may be the greatest ever experienced by any populated area in the Atlantic basin, according to Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger in Tallahassee, Florida.
MICHAEL JORDAN PLEDGES $1M FOR HURRICANE RELIEF IN BAHAMAS
The spokesman admitted the distribution of aid to all of the islands has not been as consistent as people wish. However, he said that was partly due to the fact that most vehicles were destroyed by the storm.
Food and supplies were still flooding into Marsh Harbour Airport in the Abaco Islands, but for the most part, no locals were there to use them.
Fox News was told that rescues in the Abaco Islands are largely completed, as are most evacuations. Military aircraft are now flying supplies to the smaller surrounding cays, where more residents have chosen not to evacuate.
In Marsh Harbour, neighborhoods with names like “Pigeon Pea” and “da Mudd” are empty. All that appears to be left are piles of rubble and the bodies buried underneath them. On a nearby dock, pallets of emergency ready meals sat untouched for most the afternoon.
Supreme Court allows Trump Administration to enforce toughest restrictions yet on Asylum requests
A lawsuit to stop the new policy is still working its way through the lower court.
By Pete Williams
The U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday gave the Trump administration permission to enforce its toughest restriction yet on asylum seekers at the southern border, even though a lawsuit to stop the new policy is still working its way through the lower courts.
As a result, the government can now refuse to consider a request for asylum from anyone who failed to apply for it in another country after leaving home but before coming here. The order means, for instance, that migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador cannot seek asylum in the U.S. if they didn't first ask for it in Mexico.
Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying the court acted too quickly and should allow the case to work its way through the normal judicial process.
The administration said the new restriction is needed to respond to "an unprecedented surge" of people who enter the country illegally and seek asylum if they're caught. But officials said only a small fraction of them are eventually found to be qualified. "The rule thus screens out asylum seekers who declined to request protection at their first opportunity," said Solicitor General Noel Francisco. He said it allows immigration officials to concentrate on the asylum seekers who most need protection.
Immigration courts now face a backlog of 436,000 asylum requests. But given how few are actually granted, it's reasonable to ask whether those applicants "genuinely fear persecution or torture, or are simply economic migrants," Francisco said.
After the new policy was announced in July, a federal judge in California blocked its enforcement, ruling that it would violate existing immigration law and was improperly rushed into effect. The Justice Department took the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but also asked the Supreme Court to let the government carry out the restrictions while the case is on appeal.
An earlier move by the Trump administration to restrict asylum remains blocked by the courts. It would have denied the protection to anyone who did not enter the US through a legal port of entry.
Dissenting from Wednesday's order, Justices Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, said the new asylum policy "seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution. Although this Nation has long kept its doors open to refugees—and although the stakes for asylum seekers could not be higher—the Government implemented its rule without first providing the public notice and inviting the public input generally required by law."
Activists break everything in the Haitian Senate to prevent Prime Minister’s policy presentation
Dozens of angry campaigners stormed the meeting room last Wednesday night to discuss the Prime Minister Fritz William Michel’s policy statement even as he and his cabinet members were in the Diplomatic Hall of Parliament.
The incident occurred after a day of high tension in the city center and around the parliament, where there were violent protests. It all started towards the end of the morning when a few dozen protesters, most of them armed, positioned themselves around the Legislative Palace despite an important security device deployed by the Haitian National Police.
Some of these gunmen who pretended to be political activists along with some opposition senators even managed to enter Parliament. By mid-day, the protesters were going to set fire to a bus carrying agents from the intervention and law enforcement agency (Cimo). Attempts by the police and the fire department to extinguish the fire have been in vain.