FANM of Miami condemns Bahamas' decision to deport Haitians living in shelters
The Government of the Bahamas recently announced the upcoming removal of undocumented migrants who survived Hurricane Dorian and have been living since September 1 in shelters. This has raised concern in the area of human rights at the international level.
The Bahamas immigration minister, Elsworth Johnson, told Nassau Guardian newspaper that shelters will not be used “to circumvent the law.” He went on to say, “If you’re in a shelter and you’re undocumented and you’re not here in the right way, you’re still subject to deportation and immigration law enforcement.”
Marleine Bastien, executive director of the Miami-based Family Action Network (FANM) in Florida, said it was unacceptable for the Bahamas to deport undocumented immigrants who have recently experienced traumatic experiences.
Category 5 Dorian destroyed thousands of homes on Great Abaco and Grand Bahama and was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Bahamas. The damage, now clearly evident, seems calamitous. At least 53 people have died and more than 1,300 are still missing, FANM recalled in a note.
“It is inhumane to deport these people to Haiti, a country that is going through one of the worst political crises in its history, with serious human rights violations, arbitrary killings and massacres,” Bastien said.
Haitian Americans to Pelosi: Stop U.S. meddling. It’s time for Haiti president to go.
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
OCTOBER 03, 2019 08:58 PM
A meeting in Miami between U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of South Florida’s most prominent Haitian Americans ended Thursday with a message for the Democratic leader to take back to Washington: The U.S. needs to stop meddling in Haiti’s internal affairs — and Haiti President Jovenel Moïse needs to go.
“The people of Haiti are saying, ‘My goodness, let us govern ourselves. Let us find our own path... just support us,’” said Gepsie Metellus, the executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, which provides social services to the community. “What do people want to see? They want to see the United States ask, ‘What do you want and how can we help you get it?’ We don’t want the United States or Canada or France or the rest of our friends dictating. We don’t want to be dictated to.”
Activist Carline Paul was more blunt, telling Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, who organized the round-table discussion, that she called contacts in Haiti before coming.
“The people of Haiti say, ‘No interference. No [Temporary Protected Status] deportations after Jan. 20, no more support of President Jovenel Moïse as president of Haiti.”
Wilson, who represents one of the largest congressional districts of Haitian Americans, introduced Pelosi at the Father Gerard Jean-Juste Community Center in North Miami-Dade, saying that when she originally invited her, it was to discuss issues affecting the community. Haiti was not yet the powder keg it has become since protests over a recurring fuel shortage morphed into a fresh round of violent protests demanding the resignation of Moïse, who has been in office for 32 months.
On Thursday, a leading human rights group in the country said at least 17 people have been killed and 187 injured, including journalists, between Sept. 16-30.
Accusing anti-riot police officers of engaging in repressive violence, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights/Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains is calling for an investigation into the misuse of tear gas and incidents of police brutality by the Haiti National Police.
“The police, an apolitical institution, must be able to behave professionally,” the human rights group said, also criticizing the use of masked police officers during the demonstrations.
The human rights report said some of the individuals have turned out to be fake police officers, hired by the government to quell the anti-government demonstrations. Among the exhibits in the report: a photo showing armed men in uniform escorting the new representative of the executive in the North Department, Pierrot Degaul Augustin, during his installation on Monday.
The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights said the recent insurgency by the population can be blamed on public policies put in place by Haiti’s current authorities “who, since their accession to power, flout the democratic gains of the Haitian people and systematically violate their rights.”
“They have never taken seriously the various protest movements in the country since July 2018 by a population plagued by all ills,” the human rights group said.
Haiti protesters ask international community to stop supporting their president
OCTOBER 04, 2019 06:33 PM, UPDATED OCTOBER 04, 2019 07:27 PM
A massive crowd of anti-government protesters in Haiti cranked up the pressure for President Jovenel Moïse to step down Friday, taking their resignation demands to the United Nation’s peacekeeping headquarters in Port-au-Prince, where they asked the international community to stop support the country’s leader.
On Friday, the massive protests in Port-au-Prince started peacefully but there were violent outbreaks, according to radio reports, when anti-riot officers with the Haiti National Police started firing tear gas.
The effect was so powerful that a nearby hospital sent an SOS alert to journalists, asking police and protesters to respect the perimeter of the hospital. One of its patients, in a coma, could no longer withstand the gas, a doctor said.
Earlier, police found themselves overrun and outsmarted as they tried to block the crowd from reaching the airport. Some demonstrators quickly branched off and traveled on a back road. Carrying placards that read, “Resign Jovenel,” and “America stop funding corruption,” the protesters marched past the Ministry of Health and turned onto Carrefour Rita to arrive in front of the U.N. site. Some of the placards referred to the Core Group, a label for the international community in Haiti.
In the crowd were mothers who complained about not being able to send their children to school; young men who decried the corruption involving public officials, and opposition politicians, including the mayor of Haiti’s largest city.
“We don’t have a choice,” Port-au-Prince Mayor Ralph Youri Chevry said when asked why he was out marching. “We need another system.”
He later tweeted: “Today I’m shutting down the streets along with my fellow Haitians to request the departure of President Jovenel Moïse. I believe in a Haiti where the people deserve more than what the central power offers. I will not stop fighting until a new system emerges under a different leadership that can lead the people well.”
Haiti National Police confirmed eight people were injured by gunshot Friday, including two police officers in the capital and six in Jeremie. Two homes were also set ablaze in Jeremie. In the southern region, where a 70-year-old hospital patient was assaulted earlier this week in Les Cayes, police made two arrests Friday for attempted arson of a gas station and three others for carrying illegal arms.
Unlike in recent protests, which quickly turned violent, demonstrators Friday tried to keep things peaceful. At some points it felt more festive than confrontational.
In Port-de-Paix, as a crowd headed toward the courthouse, protesters changed their mind and turned around to avoid clashing with police. And in Cap-Haitien, where they marched out of the city and back to Vertières, where a monument stands to the last battle of the second war of Haitian independence, some tried to negotiate their way past a police roadblock to get into Carenage, a residential area where the U.N. has an office.
Friday’s protest, one of the largest in recent months, came a day after a group of influential Haitian-American activists met with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a community center in unincorporated North Miami-Dade County. The round-table discussion before a packed room was organized by U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat.
With a message similar to their counterparts in Haiti, the Miami group told Wilson and Pelosi that after years of interference in Haiti, it was time for the U.S. to listen to the people and respect the country’s sovereignty.
“They are calling for accountability from so-called elected officials,” Karen Andre, a lawyer who worked in the Obama administration said. “They are calling for an end to the massacres, the extrajudicial killings that are happening.”
In a letter addressed to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and delivered to the U.N. by a small delegation, opposition leaders blasted Moïse’s leadership, saying “the people do not recognize him anymore as head of state.” They provided an exhaustive list of issues, from a massacre in La Saline last year, in which two government officials were implicated, to a Haitian court’s audit of misuse of Venezuela’s PetroCaribe oil program, which implicated the president.
“We solicit, in your capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations, your disassociation from Jovenel Moïse by giving all of your support to the Haitian people,” the letter said. “He doesn’t rule anything and he has no control over the country. He is incapable.”
Guterres’ office, which has mentioned Haiti twice this week during its daily press briefings, did not say anything about Friday’s protest. But during the noon U.N. briefing, spokesman Stephane Dujarric commented about street demonstrations taking place in several countries around the world. The secretary-general was deeply concerned that some of the protests had led to violence and, in some instances, resulted in the loss of life and serious injuries, Dujarric said.
“The Secretary-General restates that freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected,” Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General reiterates his call to security forces to act at all times with maximum restraint and to respond to any acts of violence in conformity with relevant international human rights standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. He also calls on protesters to demonstrate peacefully and to refrain from violence.”
Performance, Masterclass and Drum Workshop with Linda François and Youry Vixamar
Haiti Cultural Exchange is pleased to present Danse RASIN as part of our Haiti X New York programming. Haiti-based Dancer Linda François and Drummer Youry Vixamar join us in NYC for a day of dance and drumming.
Linda Isabelle François is a Haitian dancer who made her dance debut at the age of three. In 1980, she began dancing with Kettly Durand for two years, then at Lavinia Williams school for three years and later, in 1991, she integrated Artcho, and in 1993, she started her professional career. She learned from great dance professionals: Jeanguy Saintus, Jean René Delsoin, Gerard Florestal, Lena Blou, Bob Powers and Kathryn Sullivan to name a few. She has worked during her many years of professional experience on classical dance techniques, Latin dance, jazz, traditional Haitian, Afro-Cuban, Afro-contemporary, modern, ethnic dance, improvisation and choreographic composition.
She has proven herself as co-artistic director, soloist, choreographer, coach of Ayikodans, teacher at Artcho for over twenty years and has also participated in several commercials. Various audiences from foreign countries, appreciated the choreographies performed by Linda: Europe (Paris, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Upper Normandy), Japan (Tokyo, Nagano, Fukuyama), USA (New York, Ohio, Miami, Boston, Minnesota) , The Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados), Africa (Benin).
Youry Vixamar: Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Youry is passionate about music. He began piano lessons at the age of 10. At 15 years old he learned to play the trumpet. In 2000 he began his musical studies at Haiti's National School of Arts (ENARTS). His career began in 2002 with Sanba Zao in Djakata band. In 2003, he played in the choir of St. Jude (Meyotte), Brothers Posse, Fabienne Denis Ayizan and Tru Rasta . In 2007 he joined Paul Beaubrun's band, Zing Eksperyans. Starting in 2011, he began a solo career in collaboration with DJs such as Gardy Girault, DJ Stuba, DZgot, Jeff Afrozila, Boddhi Satva, Dead Fresh Nunas onstage and more.
Haiti X New York (HXNY) is a program of week-long residencies that brings Haiti-based artists to New York to present their work to and engage with Diaspora and broader NYC audiences. Artists participate in workshops, panel discussions, and culminating presentations. HXNY narrows the physical and cultural distance between Haitians and Haitian-Americans and lends new insights to historical and current concerns of Haitians in and out of the Diaspora. At the same time, the program introduces New York audiences to Haitian artists with whom they may not be familiar.
Danse RASIN
Sat, October 19, 2019 - 12:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway ,N.Y.
12 pm | Doors open
12:30 - 2 pm | Masterclass with Linda François accompanied by live drumming
2:30-3:30pm | Drum workshop with Youry Vixamar
4-5pm | Dance Performance by Linda François featuring Youry Vixamar
5pm-5:30pm | Ann Pale discussion with the artists
What’s New with Naomi Osaka?
Naomi Osaka went through a rather difficult period soon after winning the Australian Open. The Japanese sensation hit the headlines after she sacked her coach Sascha Bajin 2 weeks after her triumph in Melbourne. Later she had a rather depressing run during the clay and grass court seasons to finally fire also her new coach Jermaine Jenkins.
Naomi Osaka coached by her father
The former world no.1 had the sensible idea to “go back to the future” and being coached by her father Leonard Francois and that worked like a charm. The Japanese won the title in Osaka and she looked in top form in Beijing where she defeated Bianca Andreescu after a great 3-setter halting the 17-matches winning streak of the Canadian.
After the match, Naomi commented:
“It meant a lot because I feel like people counted me out after the Europe thing. I’m just like, I still won a slam this year, I won Osaka. I’m still here. But there’s a sort of beauty to be underrated.” Osaka qualified for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen
After her recent win, Naomi Osaka qualified for the 2nd consecutive year for the seasons’ finale. In 2018 she didn’t shine in Singapore where she lost all her matches. This year she looks to be in a much better mental space to have a much better run.
What do Americans know about Haitians?
Sadly, the American politicians and American lobbyists know a lot about the wrongdoings of the “Haitian Sellouts" who are always contacting them for favors and are selling the country sovereignty to keep themselves in power.
Those aforementioned Americans do not know about the Haitian People and its goodness and its endurance to hardship. Also, they do not know about its determination to change the status quo, when facing the impossible.
Nonetheless, nowadays, because of the Diaspora members' involvement in the cultural life of their communities in America, many Americans know about Haiti and its nationalists/citizens. They do know that Haiti helped The United States of America get its freedom during the Savannah independence fight in 1776 against England. They know how Haiti helped many “real leaders” in South America and Central America countries during their fight for liberation and freedom.
We as Haitians have to let the world know that we are not in agreement with the “sellouts.” We are proud to be born in the First Black Independent Republic of the World, a heritage left in 1804 by our ancestors, the former slaves.