Kenyan police force to leave for UN-backed Haiti mission on Tuesday
23/06/2024 - 18:28
Kenya offered to send about 1,000 police to stabilise Haiti alongside personnel from several other countries, but the deployment has run into legal challenges in the East African nation.
President William Ruto has been an enthusiastic backer of the mission and said this month that the deployment would begin within weeks.
"The departure is this week on Tuesday," an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
"Preparations are set for the team to depart for Haiti on Tuesday. We already have two advance teams that left -- one last week and another one yesterday," a senior police official said.
A UN Security Council resolution in October approved the mission but a Kenyan court in January delayed the deployment.
It said the Kenyan government had no authority to send police officers abroad without a prior agreement.
The government secured that agreement on March 1 but a small opposition party in Kenya has filed a fresh lawsuit to try to block it.
Aside from Kenya, other countries that have expressed willingness to join the mission include Benin, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados and Chad.
The United States is providing funding and logistical support, but not boots on the ground in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.
Global monitor Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about the mission and doubts over its funding.
Rights groups have accused Kenyan police of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings.
On Friday, a police watchdog said it was investigating allegations that a 29-year-old man was shot by officers in Nairobi after youth-led demonstrations against proposed tax hikes.
Haiti has long been rocked by gang violence but conditions sharply worsened at the end of February when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital Port-au-Prince, saying they wanted to overthrow then prime minister Ariel Henry.
Henry announced in early March that he would step down and hand over executive power to a transitional council, which named Garry Conille as the country's interim prime minister on May 29.
The violence in Port-au-Prince has affected food security and humanitarian aidaccess, with much of the city in the hands of gangs accused of abuses including murder, rape, looting and kidnappings.
(AFP)
National Center of Haitian Apostolate
REFLECTIONS FOR THE TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B June 23, 2024
Job 38, 1 + 8-11; Psalm 197; 2 Corinthians 5, 14-17; Mark 4, 35-41
This Sunday the Lord invites us to move from fear to confidence. Job implores God in his sufferings. God answers from the heart of the storm (Job 38: 1,8-11) “Look at my power and trust me, even when you do not understand."
Paul, in turn, reminds the Corinthians that Jesus died for all men while bearing the weight of their evil; we must no longer remain focused on ourselves but on him who died and rose again for us. In the Gospel, the disciples are afraid of dying because of the storm. But Jesus rebukes the threatening wind and commands the stormy sea to quiet down. At once, the wind ceased and calm was restored.
Like Job or the disciples of Jesus, people of our time feel very insecure, because of so many reasons: like wars, violence, natural disasters, economic and moral crises, etc. More than ever the cry of suffering is relevant: men, women, and children are painfully affected by illness, poverty, and famine. Many live in fear and no longer have the strength to cry out to the Lord. It seems to them, that things and life move too fast. Some even see the Church as sometimes uneasy and fearful. It seems as, if God is too far away; like a God who sleeps, and remains indifferent to our fears and anxieties.
"Where are you, Lord, when we suffer?" "Why do you sleep, Lord, when your Church suffers?" "Why is there so much evil in the world?" These are often the cries of our human condition when we feel threatened by misfortune, suffering, and evil.
We are reassured today by Jesus’s reaction and attitude in this Gospel. First, instead of answering the questions of his disciples, he calmed down the tempest with a word of his mouth. Second, he turned the table and started questioning his disciples: "Why are you so afraid?" Where is your faith?" Finally, he reaffirmed his presence in the boat with them. "I am with you. Believe in me, trust me."
Faith does not eliminate the storm, no matter how strong it is. Faith changes us. Faith allows us to see and to know that Jesus is, not only, with us, but also within us. Moreover, in the middle of the storm, he is our peace. We are not wrong for being afraid. To be afraid is normal, and it is to be expected, but there is a solution.
The word of God teaches us today that Jesus is in the boat with us. It reminds us at the same time that the real storm, the more threatening storm is always the one that rages within us, in our hearts. The work of Jesus is not only to rescue the sailors of Galilee crossing to the other side of the lake. It is fundamentally to save us, all of us, to save the world.
The mighty deeds of Christ have been clearly displayed! Jesus is shown as endowed with divine power. The Apostles, witnesses of the event were filled with awe. Are we? Yes, He is Lord! May we live with the full assurance that he is truly the Lord, whose power and mercy are boundless! Let us call on him to calm down the furious winds of terror and violence, of hatred and despair that threaten our very existence. Let us incessantly call on him to calm away our fears and anxieties in the face of the world’s uncertainties and threats. He calls us to repent and become a new creation. Why should we arrogantly stand in defiance of the One whom the winds and the seas obey?
Let us humbly express our confidence that, with the Lord, we can overcome all trials and all evil.
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Undocumented spouses, children of US citizens can stay while applying for permanent residence, Biden announces
BY THE HAITIAN TIMES JUN. 19, 2024
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security will allow certain noncitizen spouses and children to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.
The new process aims to ensure U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together while awaiting immigration status adjustments and strengthen the economy, according to the White House.
“President Biden believes that securing the border is essential,” the White House states in a fact sheet. “He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country.”
To be eligible for this opportunity, an undocumented spouse must have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024. On average, those eligible have lived in the U.S. for 23 years, according to the White House.
Approved applicants will be granted a three-year period to apply for permanent residency, during which they can remain in the U.S. with their families and receive work authorization. It’s estimated this policy will protect around 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under 21 whose parents are married to U.S. citizens.
It’s currently unclear how many Haitians in the U.S. will be affected by this policy.
Biden also announced measures to ease the visa process for U.S. college graduates, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers. This initiative aims to help young people who have earned degrees at accredited U.S. institutions and have received job offers in fields related to their degrees obtain work visas more quickly.
The administration is facilitating the employment visa process for college graduates with high-skilled job offers, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, allowing them to contribute more effectively to the country’s economy.
“Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the U.S. are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers,” the White House said.