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A must read. The opinion of a man who has defended US interest all his life !
How the Ukraine crisis endsBy Henry Kissinger
PUBLIC discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally. The test of policy is how it ends, not how it begins.
Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other – it should function as a bridge between them.
Russia must accept that to try to force Ukraine into a satellite status, and thereby move Russia’s borders again, would doom Moscow to repeat its history of self-fulfilling cycles of reciprocal pressures with Europe and the United States.
The West must understand that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just a foreign country. Russian history began in what was called Kievan-Rus. The Russian religion spread from there. Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and their histories were intertwined before then. Some of the most important battles for Russian freedom, starting with the Battle of Poltava in 1709, were fought on Ukrainian soil.
The Black Sea Fleet – Russia’s means of projecting power in the Mediterranean – is based by long-term lease in Sevastopol, in Crimea. Even such famed dissidents as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Brodsky insisted that Ukraine was an integral part of Russian history and, indeed, of Russia.
The European Union must recognize that its bureaucratic dilatoriness and subordination of the strategic element to domestic politics in negotiating Ukraine’s relationship to Europe contributed to turning a negotiation into a crisis. Foreign policy is the art of establishing priorities.
The Ukrainians are the decisive element. They live in a country with a complex history and a polyglot composition.
The Western part was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939, when Stalin and Hitler divided up the spoils. Crimea, 60 per cent of whose population is Russian, became part of Ukraine only in 1954 , when Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian by birth, awarded it as part of the 300th-year celebration of a Russian agreement with the Cossacks. The West is largely Catholic; the East largely Russian Orthodox. The West speaks Ukrainian; the East speaks mostly Russian.
Any attempt by one wing of Ukraine to dominate the other – as has been the pattern – would lead eventually to civil war or breakup. To treat Ukraine as part of an East-West confrontation would scuttle for decades any prospect to bring Russia and the West – especially Russia and Europe – into a cooperative international system.
Ukraine has been independent for only 23 years; it had previously been under some kind of foreign rule since the 14th century. Not surprisingly, its leaders have not learned the art of compromise, even less of historical perspective.
The politics of post-independence Ukraine clearly demonstrates that the root of the problem lies in efforts by Ukrainian politicians to impose their will on recalcitrant parts of the country, first by one faction, then by the other.
That is the essence of the conflict between Viktor Yanukovych and his principal political rival, Yulia Tymoshenko. They represent the two wings of Ukraine and have not been willing to share power. A wise U.S. policy toward Ukraine would seek a way for the two parts of the country to cooperate with each other. We should seek reconciliation, not the domination of a faction.
Russia and the West, and least of all the various factions in Ukraine, have not acted on this principle. Each has made the situation worse. Russia would not be able to impose a military solution without isolating itself at a time when many of its borders are already precarious. For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.Putin should come to realize that, whatever his grievances, a policy of military impositions would produce another Cold War. For its part, the United States needs to avoid treating Russia as an aberrant to be patiently taught rules of conduct established by Washington. Putin is a serious strategist – on the premises of Russian history. Understanding U.S. values and psychology are not his strong suits. Nor has understanding Russian history and psychology been a strong point of U.S. policymakers.
Leaders of all sides should return to examining outcomes, not compete in posturing. Here is my notion of an outcome compatible with the values and security interests of all sides:
Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe.
Ukraine should not join NATO, a position I took seven years ago, when it last came up.
Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country. Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids institutional hostility toward Russia.
It is incompatible with the rules of the existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea. But it should be possible to put Crimea’s relationship to Ukraine on a less fraught basis. To that end, Russia would recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. Ukraine should reinforce Crimea’s autonomy in elections held in the presence of international observers. The process would include removing any ambiguities about the status of the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol.
These are principles, not prescriptions. People familiar with the region will know that not all of them will be palatable to all parties. The test is not absolute satisfaction but balanced dissatisfaction. If some solution based on these or comparable elements is not achieved, the drift toward confrontation will accelerate. The time for that will come soon enough.
Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977. The article was first published in Washington Post.
National Center of Haitian Apostolate
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT (MARCH 6TH, 2022)
Dt 26: 4-10; Ps 91; Rom 10: 8-13; Lk 4: 1-13
Last Wednesday we began the season of Lent in preparation for Holy Week and Easter. The word Lent comes from an old English word which means springtime. As nature gears itself for harvest time, the Church calls us to ready ourselves for a season of spiritual harvest: Easter.
The recall of Jesus’ temptations in the desert dominates the scene of this 1st Sunday of Lent. These temptations are typical. Jesus is hungry after spending forty days of fasting. Satan lures him to change a stone into bread. Do we get it? Hunger is an experience of the flesh. People tend to do anything to satisfy the demands of the flesh. Jesus in rebuking the tempter teaches us that “Man does not live of bread alone.” Instead of being enslaved to the flesh, as is frequently the case, we must learn to be intent on the “things from heaven”. God’s words is much more precious than the satisfaction provided by bread. Wake up Christian! Hunger for spiritual goods!
“God alone shall you adore” is Jesus’ response to the 2nd temptation. Bow down and adore and I’ll give you power and all kinds of richness. Did it ever occur to you that many people give to the values of the world an allegiance that is due to God alone? There are new forms of idolatry. Tell me which god you worship and I will tell you who you are! Be careful!
“Don’t put God to the test” is the third answer to the third temptation: Easy success and glory. People commit all forms of crimes for the sake of money, power, pride and illicit pleasures. Let us use these forty days of Lent to strip from our hearts all evil desires and dispose our souls to a spring time of spiritual gifts!
BIDEN STATE OT THE UNION ADDRESS
Five points, reactions most relevant for Haitians from Biden’s SOTU address
BY THE HAITIAN TIMES MAR. 03, 2022
Biden delivers his first State of the Union address amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Jabin Botsford, Pool via AP]
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden delivered his annual State of the Unionaddress March 1, and gained support for his key points about the Russo-Ukrainian war. Biden also touched on a variety of issues and concerns affecting the American people, including immigration, inflation and COVID — issues that are at the forefront for many Haitian families.
Below are some of the subjects most relevant to Haitian-Americans, and reactions related to those topics from others.
Immigration: “If we are to advance liberty and justice, we need to secure the border and fix the immigration system. At our border, we’ve installed new technology like cutting-edge scanners to better detect drug smuggling.”
Tens of thousands of Haitian refugees were deported last year by the Biden administration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reaction: “The thousands of people who tried to seek legal refuge on our southern border, how Haitian refugees have been treated by the United States, not just in past administrations, but frankly this one, is not right,” saidCongressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “We really need to make sure that when we talk about accepting refugees, that we are meaning it for everybody, no matter where you come from.”
Inflation: “With all the bright spots in our economy, record job growth and higher wages, too many families are struggling to keep up with the bills …that’s why my top priority is getting prices under control.”
Locally-owned Haitian businesses, such as restaurants in New York, have been bearing the brunt of inflation since last year.
Reaction: “The biggest problem for President Biden is that there’s no good way to message inflation,” said Jason Furman, a White House economic official under the Obama administration. “There’s not a lot he can do about it, but he can’t get up there and say ‘The only solution here is patience and the Federal Reserve.’”
COVID-19: “We must prepare for new variants. If necessary, we’ll be able to deploy new vaccines within 100 days instead of many more months or years.”
Haitian enclaves, like those in Brooklyn’s East Flatbush neighborhood, suffered disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infections.
Reaction: “Under POTUS’ leadership, hundreds of millions of Americans are vaccinated against COVID-19 — it saved lives … let’s use this moment to reset,” tweeted California Congressperson Eric Swalwell.
Health care: “The American Rescue Plan is helping millions of families on Affordable Care Act plans save $2,400 a year on their health care premiums. Let’s close the coverage gap and make those savings permanent.”
For years, Haitian immigrants have struggled with inaccessible treatment to health care and lower rates for insurance coverage.
Reaction: “The idea of passing some form of the bill may be alive, but it’s hanging by a thread — and the next few weeks are critical to see if lawmakers can jump-start the effort,” wrote Washington Post reporter Rachel Roubein.
Taxes: “Nobody earning less than $400,000 a year will pay an additional penny in taxes, not a single penny.”
The household income for Black immigrants was 16% lower than the average American, with unfair tax rates disproportionately affecting their populations.
Reaction: “On average, the top 10% of tax filers, or those earning more than $115,800, could see their after-tax income shrink if one version of Biden’s plan took effect,” according to CNN.
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Haitians in Mexico
FEB. 23, 2022
A periodic update by The Haitian Times
Many Haitians are settling in Mexico as they are finding employment.
Haitians receive largest share of humanitarian visas in Mexico
MEXICO — Mexico’s National Institute of Migration granted 41,409 humanitarian visas to Haitians in 2021, making Haitians the largest group among many nationalities to receive that type of entry document. A recent report by Mexico’s Migration Policy Department, or Unidad de Política Migratoria, provides the statistics.
The visa, called Visitors Permit due to Humanitarian Concerns, or Tarjetas de Visitantes por Razones Humanitarias, allows Haitians to apply for jobs and housing in Mexico for a one-year period. In December 2021 alone, the report shows, about 70% of these visas were granted.
The increase in humanitarian visas took place as Mexico’s National Migration Institute was relocating Haitians from Tapachula, Chiapas to other cities.
A Dec. 5, 2021 Facebook post from the Haitian embassy in Mexico shared information on the relocation program.
“Congratulations to INAMI (Instituto Nacional de Migracion) and the Consulate of Haiti in Tapachula who were able to get 65 buses out of Tapachula on Saturday December 4, 2021 to other cities for a total of 2,951 Haitians. Good work,” read the post.
Tapachula, bordering Guatemala in the south of Mexico, is the main entry point for Haitians arriving from Chile and Brazil, and where most requests for asylum are made.
Because Mexican migration law says asylum seekers must complete the asylum applications in the department where their initial requests were made, tens of thousands of Haitians had been waiting for months in Tapachula.
The visa will allow Haitian asylum seekers to begin settling throughout Mexico, as many have decided to stay in the country after abandoning plans to reach the United States.
Haitians slowly joining formal labor force in Mexicali, Mexico
MEXICALI — About 170 Haitians are now employed at businesses that are part of Coparmex Mexicali, an advocacy and support group comprising local businesses, despite the slow pace of hiring of immigrants, reported El Imparcial.
Most of the jobs are in the textile industry, which has the greatest number of openings, Octavio Sandoval López, president of Coparmex Mexicali, told El Imparcial.
Sandoval López said hiring had been stagnant due to the difficulty of getting an appointment with the Tax Administration Service and because many Haitians don’t have a physical address in the city.
To date, local authorities have granted 200 appointments to Haitians to initiate the process of getting a Tax ID so they can seek employment.
Haitians, including 14 pregnant, moved from shelter to house ‘Stay in México’ refugees
MEXICALI — A group of 81 Haitians were relocated from a shelter in División del Norte, Mexicali, to make room for a group of Mexicans who are part of the ‘Stay in México’ program, reported Pregoreno de Baja California.
The United States government’s ‘Stay in Mexico’ program, officially known as Migrant Protocols Program, allows for asylum seekers who arrive in the U.S. by land to be returned to Mexico to wait while their immigration case is processed in the U.S.
The Haitians, which included 14 pregnant women, were relocated to various shelters in Mexicali during the weekend of Feb. 11, according to the Pregorenoreport.
Haitian children allowed to attend school in Nuevo León
NUEVO LEÓN, Mexico — The Secretary of Education of Nuevo León, México, declared that Haitian children will receive the support necessary to continue their education. That support will include making Haitian Creole teachers available in the schools, Telediario reported on Feb. 15.
Dr. Paul Farmer, global health giant, dies at 62
(CNN) — Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician who championed global health and sought to bring modern medical science to those most in need around the world, died unexpectedly in his sleep in Rwanda on Monday, according to Partners in Health, the nonprofit organization he founded. He was 62.
Farmer, who was also an infectious disease specialist and a medical anthropologist, is survived by his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and three children.
Partners in Health CEO Dr. Sheila Davis said in a statement, "Paul Farmer's loss is devastating, but his vision for the world will live on through Partners in Health. Paul taught all those around him the power of accompaniment, love for one another, and solidarity. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife and three children."
Partners in Health, founded in 1987, had two goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.
In addition to the work he did as co-founder and chief strategist of Partners in Health, Farmer was chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He was a prolific writer and authored numerous books, including "Partner to the Poor."
The global medical community responded in shock and dismay to news of Farmer's death.
Farmer's life's work was the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings.
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CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta contributed to this report.
Haiti hikes minimum wage by up to 54% following worker protests
ReutersFebruary 21, 20224:50 PM EST
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Haiti's government on Monday hiked the minimum wage by as much as 54% following weeks of demonstrations by garment workers who say their wages are not enough to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The office of Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Twitter posted a sliding scale of wage hikes that vary by economic activity, with the greatest increase going to workers in areas such as the electricity and telecommunications industries.
Employees in the clothing manufacturing sector, which export finished products to U.S. retailers, received a 37% increase. That takes their wages to just under $7.50 per day, compared with the $15 per day that union leaders had demanded.
For decades, Haiti has promoted itself as a center for clothing manufacturing thanks to low wages and proximity to U.S. markets.
Workers over the years have complained that pay is too low to cover basic goods, which are often more expensive than in other countries due to weak infrastructure and gang violence.
A group of U.S. members of Congress in November said they were asking the heads of 62 American companies that import garments from Haiti for information on "protections in place for workers employed by their companies and suppliers."
Haitian officials have in the past said that increasing wages by too much would leave the garment industries at risk of losing competitiveness with respect to other countries such as the neighboring Dominican Republic.
Reporting by Gessika Thomas, writing by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Grant McCool
Haiti agrees to increase minimum wage
PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 21, CMC – Haiti has announced an increase in the minimum wage less than a week after police used teargas to disperse textile workers who had taken to the streets to demand better pay.
The workers were demanding a 300 per cent increase in the minimum wage, which is now 500 Gourdes per eight-hour working day, in addition to other social benefits such as transport and food subsidies.
The Council of Ministers met on Sunday and agreed to increase the minimum wage for different categories of workers effective Monday.
According to the decree published in the Official Journal “Le Moniteur” workers in the private electricity production; financial institutions, telecommunications; import-export trade; supermarkets; jewellery stores; art galleries; furniture, furniture and appliance stores; doctor's office and polyclinics, will receive an 54 per cent increase moving their minimum wage from 500 to 770 Gourdes.
The council said workers in the buildings and public works (BTP); truck and heavy machinery rental companies; construction material rental companies; construction material transport companies; hardware stores; other financial institutions such as cooperatives, credit unions will receive a 39. 7 per cent increase with their new wages being 615 Gourdes, up from 440 Gourdes.
Another segment of workers who received 385 Gourdes per eight-hour day, will now receive 540 Gourdes and these workers are those in the restaurants; agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing; agricultural products processing industry and retail trade.
The decree had also announced salary increases 37 to 40 per cent for workers whose daily pay ranges from 250to 440 Gourdes.
Last week, Senate President, Joseph Lambert, called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to cops using teargas to break up a demonstration by textile workers who had been seeking an increase in wages.
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HAITIANS IN AFRICA
The Failure of Categories: Haitians in the United Nations Organization in the Congo, 1960 – 1964
Article in Journal of Haitian Studies · August 2014 DOI: 10.1353/jhs.2014.0001
Regine Jackson
Agnes Scott College
The United Nations and its specialized agencies began recruitment efforts to replace European administrators of African bureaucracies as early as 1958. After the Democratic Republic of Congo achieved independence from Belgium in June 1960, the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld launched the most extensive and prominent among these efforts: the United Nations Organization in the Congo or ONUC (Organisation des National Unies au Congo).4 For four years, the Civilian Operations Program recruited
French-speaking professionals and technicians from all over the world to help establish the country’s infrastructure and to supplement the small Congolese leadership class. Hundreds of Haitians—teachers, professors, engineers, and doctors—went to Africa as part of the ONUC program. By 1962, Haitian émigrés constituted the second largest contingent of UN staff experts working in the Congo.5 Maurice Dartigue was Chief of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Africa Division. Dr. Athemas Bellerive directed the World Health Organization (WHO) medical team that included several Haitian doctors (see Figure 1). And in 1963, ONUC’s military force was commanded by Max H. Dorsinville.6
A relatively large number of Haitians participated in the UN programs in Benin and Cameroon, as well as in the Congo. Some Haitians spent career lifetimes with their families there. Yet what is known about the experiences of the estimated 7,500 Haitians in African countries amounts to undocumented fragments that have accumulated over time and are repeated in literature and various commentaries.
The historiography of post–World War II pan-Africanism focuses primarily on Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa as sites of resistance and black internationalist activism. As Martin and West note, referring to Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic and The Practice of Diaspora by Brent Hayes Edwards, “That literature, even in its more recent diasporic and Black Atlantic variations, displays a consistent Afro-Saxon bias.”7 When Haiti is mentioned at all, it is frozen in time in 1804; in popular and scholarly perception, Haiti’s impact on the world is effectively limited to the Haitian Revolution. The connections between Haiti and Africa—and the relationships between Haitian and African peoples—are imagined as largely symbolic, with no attention to the ways Haitian émigrés took tangible, self-determined action on behalf of African sovereignty.8
Equally troubling, Africa only enters the scholarship on Haitian migration in the work of epidemiologists. Here, the “Haitian hypothesis” proliferates, alleging that Haitian people brought AIDS to the United States in the 1970s after returning from Africa.9 The overall effect of these accounts is that Africa is written out of the Haitian diaspora and vice versa. More familiar narratives of migration to North America, Western Europe, and the nearby Caribbean dominate the scholarship, which naturalizes certain sites as destinations for Haitian migrants and for transnational political activity.10
The gaps in the historical record suggest a muting, if not complete erasure, of accounts that do not fit within the dominant discursive framework. The growing body of scholarship on the postcolonial period demonstrates that questions about the future of Africa animated blacks in the diaspora, who exhibited their support for the cause of African independence and development in a variety of ways. However, Haiti emerges as the “exceptional” case, somehow outside other transnational pan-Africanist movements, and Haitian migrants are locked within the mythic tropes of exile and refugee. In the current scholarly context, the idea that Haitians exercised some agency in their migration to Africa is unimaginable.
Based on a case study of Haitians in the ONUC, I propose that new interpretive frames are needed to see migration to postcolonial Africa as part of a long tradition of Haitian internationalism. As categories of analysis, “exile” and “brain drain” neglect important dimensions of migrant subjectivities. Even the term “expatriate” is baggage-laden, connoting not only whiteness but also lavish lifestyles, hedonistic pleasures, and social irresponsibility.11 I examine what is remembered about these Haitian émigrés: the common stories that circulate in the various commentaries and available accounts of the events surrounding their migration. My analysis is informed as much by what has been preserved in the archives and our collective memories as by what is missing. I make two interrelated observations: 1) the idea that Haitians saw postcolonial Africa as a space of possibility is notably absent in both official histories and personal accounts; and 2) certain interpretations of Haitian migration to the Congo seem to challenge the very logic of powerful discursive frames. I argue that this “failure of categories”—a phrase borrowed from Michel- Rolph Trouillot’s now-classic text Silencing the Past—narrows our ability to imagine how Haitians contributed to the project of mid-twentieth-century black internationalism as well as our modes of theorizing the Haitian diaspora.12 What is perhaps most significant about the story of Haitians in the ONUC, however, is how it impacts the production of Haitian history.
The research presented here is part of an ongoing collaborative study.13 In what follows, I juxtapose official historical accounts of the “Congo experiment” with autobiographical memories, oral histories, and written testimonials from Haitian nationals who lived in the Congo for at least one year during the 1960s. The sample is made up of men who were recruited to participate in the ONUC as well as their wives and adult children, born and/or raised in the Congo; the latter are especially privileged here. In the larger project, interviews with Haitian émigrés of the period who did not participate in the program and instead migrated to the United
The Failure of Categories: Haitians in the United Nations Organization in the Congo 37 States, or with those who stayed in Haiti, provide much-needed context for understanding local perceptions of the ONUC.
The principal archival sources I consulted are housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The Papers of Maurice Dartigue, former Haitian Minister of Education, Agriculture, and Labor, were a primary focus. Dartigue went into exile in the United States after the overthrow of President Élie Lescot in 1946.14 He settled the same year in New York and began a career at the United Nations as a senior specialist in education in the Trusteeship department. He joined UNESCO in 1956, supervised the Major Latin American Project (LAMP), and was appointed Chief of UNESCO’s Africa Division in 1962. Dartigue worked with UNESCO to hire hundreds of Haitians to serve as professional and technical experts in newly independent African nations such as Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria. He also directed several educational and teacher-training programs in Africa until his retirement in 1971.
The Dartigue Papers attest to his important role as an advocate for Haitian migrants. They include correspondence with Haitians seeking employment opportunities outside of Haiti, as well as exchanges with Haitian presidents Paul Magloire and François Duvalier about the recruitment of Haitian professionals for projects in Africa. UN staff lists and various memoranda between Dartigue and the UN office in Paris also show him recommending Haitian nationals for posts in the Congo.15
In addition, I have conducted preliminary examinations of the records in the Council on African Affairs Collection. These include photocopies of several publications—such as the Council’s newsletter “Spotlight on Africa”—and the Printed Matter Series (1931–71) of the Ralph Bunche Papers, relating to Bunche’s career at the United Nations. Finally, the Association of Former World Health Organization Staff (AFSM) helped me to track Haitian doctors and their families who had been in the Congo in the 1960s. Archived copies of the AFSM’s quarterly newsletter, which provides news, information, and other features with the aim of promoting contacts among WHO retired staff, were a valuable resource as well. The association also collects the memoirs written by member authors in order to share valuable information about events and activities in the history of global health. Additional archival materials held in the private homes of key informants (Raoul Peck, John Dartigue, Raymond Dusseck, and others) helped fill gaps in textual, photographic, and other types of records.
Although this project aims primarily to address silences in the historical record, I am also interested in tracking the consumption of the categories used to construct individual and collective memories of Haitians in the
38 Regine O. Jackson
Congo. My concern is not only with the categories themselves, but also with the ways they structure (that is, how they both enable and disable) conceptual and empirical work.
Biden has deported nearly as many Haitians in his first year as the last three presidents – combined
February 18, 2022
Biden has expelled nearly as many Haitians in 12 months (20,200+) as were deported during the previous 20 years (21,900) under three different presidents. Indeed, Biden’s administration has likely expelled far more: In addition to these official removal numbers, another estimated 8,000 Haitians were expelled back into Mexico in September of 2021, voluntarily according to DHS Secretary Mayorkas, but in circumstances that make that characterization suspect.
The numbers
Through the end of January 2022, the Biden administration expelled 19,189 Haitians via flights to Port au Prince and Cap Haitian according to the International Organization on Migration. There have been an additional ten flights from February 1st to February 18th – bringing the estimated total number of people expelled to 20,200 and growing. For regular reporting on flights, see Witness at the Border.
Another 8,000 Haitians “volunteered” to return back to Mexico in September of 2021 according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, speaking during a press conference about the situation in the Del Rio sector. The degree to which people voluntarily went back into Mexico must be weighed against what they were facing – certain detention and deportation to Haiti. In addition, the entire fiasco that occurred at the Del Rio crossing was an abomination of human rights violations. There has been an internal DHS investigation into Border Patrol attacks on Haitian migrants and a lawsuitbrought by the Haitian Bridge Alliance and other organizations concerning the overall poor treatment of Haitians by US immigration authorities in Del Rio.
The Trump administration expelled 6,150 Haitians. Just over 2,800 of those removals occurred early in 2017, following the Obama administration’s decision to expand deportations to Haiti in October of 2016. Indeed, of the 5,567 Haitians expelled in FY 2017, 2,737 were expelled by the Obama administration between October 2016 to January 2017. Most of the rest expelled that year occurred in February to April, and more accurately reflect an Obama policy. Trump announced his intention to suspend Temporary Protected Status for Haiti in late 2017 – but that suspension was tied up in courts throughout his presidency.
The Obama administration expelled 6,670 Haitians over an 8 year period. As noted above 40% of those removals occurred in the first 4 months of FY 2017. Temporary Protected Status was re-designated for Haiti by the Obama administration in 2011 – a year after the massive earthquake that wrecked Port au Prince in January of 2010. Despite TPS being in place and the country in shambles, deportations continued for new arrivals and so called “criminal deportees” who did not qualify for TPS. The deportations were condemned by the United Nations and others. A detailed report on these removals was published in 2015 jointly by the law clinics at the Universities of Miami and Chicago.
In 2016 the massive increase in deportations was the result of an increase in arrivals of Haitians near San Diego, and was intended then (as today) as a deterrent. The Haitians arriving in San Diego were mostly leaving Brazil where many had relocated after the 2010 earthquake. From 2010 to 2015 Brazil admitted tens of thousands of Haitians in a drive for workers to help prepare for the Olympics and World Cup. Starting in 2015, Brazil fell into a recession, and the situation for Haitians deteriorated quickly. Many tried to come to the United States in 2015 and 2016. They were mostly blocked at the border, as the Obama administration instituted its “metering” system, which forced Haitians to wait in Mexico for their number to be called. Some are still waiting.
The Bush administration deported 9,100 Haitians – during a time that included an increase in removals following the 9/11/2001 attacks and an increase in border militarization more generally. The Bush years also covered the 2004 coup d’etat in Haiti, following which the US Coast Guard interdicted and returned hundreds of Haitians caught at sea – though nothing like the number that had been interdicted in the 1990s. Those numbers are not included here or in any other year, as the people interdicted in this manner rarely make it to the United States.
Take Action to Stop Removals:
We need to tell Biden to halt the expulsion of Haitians. At least 85% of these expulsions have taken place using Title 42 policies – a faux public health order issued under the Trump Administration permitting the Department of Homeland Security to expel people without any possibility of asylum screening. So, not only has Biden removed far more Haitians, but he has shut many out of the possibility to apply for asylum in the process and at a time of great distress in Haiti.
This week members of the House and Senate called on the administration to halt the removals, writing:
Haiti is in the midst of a deteriorating political, climate, and economic crisis. In fact, Haitians now face the compounding challenge of increasing food insecurity, malnutrition, waterborne disease epidemics, and high vulnerability to natural hazards, all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. … Haiti simply cannot safely accept the repatriation of its nationals, which is why we are so deeply concerned with the large-scale removals and expulsions of individuals back to Haiti. To that end, we are concerned that the Administration’s use of the Title 42 authority is depriving legitimate asylum seekers the opportunity to pursue their claims, contrary to our obligations under international and domestic law.
See who signed the letter – and thank your Representative and/or Senator if they did!
We need to keep up the pressure: the message is halt all removals to Haiti given the current humanitarian crisis, and end Title 42 expulsion for everyone!
Send a message to Congress asking them to speak out against this policy by clicking here.
Sources:
- Removals under the Biden administration, from International Organization on Migration.
- October 2020 to January 2021, the end of FY 2020 and start of Biden’s term, is estimated based flight reports, The Biden administration has not yet issued the ICE Annual Report for FY 2021.
- FY 2020 ICE Annual Report
- Fiscal years 2003-2019 Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
- FY 2001 to FY 2002: Immigration and Naturalization Services statistics accessed at Year Book of Immigration Statistics 2002
ICE removals
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Former Haiti senator had his U.S. visa canceled. Here is why | Miami Herald 1/28/22, 10:03 AM
An ex-Haiti senator had his U.S. visa
canceled while transiting through
Miami. Here is why
By Antonio Maria Delgado and January 28, 2022 9:37 AM
Former Haitian senator and presumed current presidential candidate Jean- Charles Moïse prides himself on being an opposition leader and leftist ideologue, one who has no problem flaunting his relationships with some of Latin America’s most controversial leaders in the face of the United States.
Now his questionable contacts may have cost him his U.S. visa.
Multiple sources have cited a visit with the reputed head of a Venezuelan drug cartel, and others as the basis for a decision by U.S. authorities Monday to revoke the firebrand Haitian politician’s U.S. visa and ban him from the United States for five years.
Moïse, who did not respond to several phone calls and requests from the Miami Herald for comment, confirmed the sanctions during several press conferences this week as he accused the United States of attacking his dignity and dared authorities to come clean about what led to the harsh decision.
Although he shares the same last name as assassinated Haitian President Jovanel Moïse, it remains a bit of a mystery whether the two are related.
The saga of Jean-Charles Moïse, who is more popularly known as Moïse Jean-Charles, began Monday when he arrived in Miami with members of a Haitian delegation that had accompanied him over the weekend to Nigeria.
As they were transiting through Miami International Airport, the ex-lawmaker was approached by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and taken into what he described as a frigidly cold room for questioning. There, he was interrogated about the visit to Nigeria, and about a visit with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, he said.
Sources familiar with the incident told the Herald that while he was being detained Moïse’s smart phone was checked by agents after he attempted to keep it from them. During the check, they found “questionable contacts” and photos of him with key members of the Venezuelan regime.
Other sources familiar with Moïse’s visits to Venezuela said during at least one of those trips, he met with the regime’s No. 2 man, Diosdado Cabello, the reputed head of a Venezuelan drug cartel. Cabello and Maduro both face drug trafficking charges in the United States, and have bounties on their heads of $10 million and $15 million, respectively.
Moïse, 54, was returned to Haiti Tuesday morning on an American Airlines flight. A photo of him boarding the flight, wearing a mask a gray suit and red shirt and looking visibly shaken, went viral almost immediately. A CPB officer is in the background of the image.
Upon arriving at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Moïse told waiting reporters that he had been detained by U.S immigration agents and had his mouth swabbed for DNA before being deported from the United States and having his U.S. visa canceled along with the issuance of a five- year ban. He received the sanctions, he said, because he had refused to discuss the Nigeria visit and a November 2021 visit with Maduro.
Speaking about the matter further at a Wednesday press conference, he accused U.S. immigration agents of violating his human rights, humiliating him and threatening him with prison because of his refusal to cooperate during the eight hours and 15 minutes he was detained inside a freezing room.
A presumed presidential candidate in Haiti’s yet-to-be-scheduled general elections, he is now using his treatment to rally support and win favor among anti-American elements in Haiti.
“Why is it that other leaders have spoken to Maduro and they have never approached them demanding to know what they discussed?” Moïse said.
A CBP spokesperson, citing privacy rules, declined to tell the Herald why the Haitian politician was deported and provided a list of more than 60 reasons on why someone holding a U.S. visa may be denied entry into the U.S.
Any traveling visitor, U.S. citizen or permanent resident can be subjected to a secondary inspection upon entering the United States. It can be random or the result of prior information by CBP agents.
In the case of Moïse, he was flagged. Asked for his telephone, he initially presented a non-smart, analog phone. Agents later tracked down his traveling companions and retrieved his smart phone. As they went through it, his photos and contacts did not help his cause.
Among them was a photo with Carolys Helena Pérez González, a former Venezuelan minister for Women and Gender Equality in Maduro’s government who often functions as a troubleshooter and link between the Venezuelan regime and its contacts in Haiti. According to a source, Pérez arranged a June meeting in Caracas between Moïse and Cabello.
Moïse, who often promotes his trips on social media, had not publicly disclosed the meeting but a photo shared with the Herald shows the two men smiling and grabbing each others firsts. Another photo shows the two men with Pérez standing in front of a Venezuelan flag.
According to his Twitter timeline, Jean-Charles Moïse was in Venezuela the week of June 21, about two weeks before the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, whom he publicly regarded as a political nemesis, to attend a
celebration of “200 Years of the Carabobo Battle,” which sealed Venezuela’s independence.
The United States believes that both Cabello and Maduro run the so-called Suns Cartel, an organization that involves high-ranking regime officials and that controls drug trafficking in Venezuela. In March of 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Maduro, Cabello and 13 other government officials of drug trafficking and placed large bounties on their heads.
Venezuela, long a diplomatic foe of the United States, has increasingly become seen as a pit stop for U.S.-bound drug shipments coming out of Colombia, oftentimes winding their way through Haiti or the Dominican Republic.
“Appearing in a photo with Diosdado Cabello is the Venezuelan equivalent of being photographed with “El Chapo” Guzmán,” said a U.S. intelligence source monitoring activities in Venezuela, referencing the violent Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán now serving life in a U.S. federal prison.
In his Wednesday press conference, the ex-lawmaker, who has adopted the red and Black Haitian flag of the Duvalier dictatorship regime and is known for waving a Russian flag during protests, accused the United States of menacing him.
While his traveling companions were allowed to go on to Haiti, he was held back and taken to a room where he was “trembling” in the cold. He said officers offered him to make a deal, he said.
“They told me that If I collaborate there are sanctions they were going to take against me that they will no longer take,” he said. “They said if I were to tell them what I was discussing with Maduro in the month of November 2021,
I won’t have any problems. If I tell them what I was discussing with the Africans, I won’t have any problems. But if I don’t say, there are four sanctions they will take against me.”
He then listed the four sanctions, which included the cancellation of his visa, a five-year ban from the United States, deportation and prison.
“I made the choice of prison; I made the choice of cutting my visa; I made the choice for them to deport us; I made the choice for them to humiliate us,” he told journalists, adding that he had retained a battery of lawyers to sue the United States to defend his dignity
Then he demanded that U.S. authorities “tell us what is hiding behind this.”
“It’s not Moïse Jean-Charles who they have done this to. They have done this to the Haitian people,” he said.
Michael Wilner, Washington Bureau senior national security correspondent, contributed to this report.
Haitians stranded at Chilean airport for weeks, waiting for refugee hearings
BY THE HAITIAN TIMES JAN. 24, 2022
View of Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, where a group of Haitians have been stranded for weeks. Photo Christer T Johansson/Wikipedia
A group of Haitian asylum seekers have been stranded for weeks at the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago de Chile, waiting for Chilean authorities to allow them into the country, according to the Spanish-language news outlet Ambito.
The group of 23 Haitians intend to request refugee status. However, Chilean authorities consider them to be tourists and have asked for their visas. Haiti’s consulate in Santiago does not appear to be handling this type of request, according to Rodolfo Noriega, president of the Committee of Peruvian Refugees in Chile.
It is unclear if the Haitian group was coming from Haiti directly or other countries nor for how many weeks the asylum seekers have been at the airport.
Through a video posted on Twitter Jan. 23, one of the Haitian asylum seekers at the airport asks the Chilean government to allow them. Holding a handwritten sign that says “Seeking Refuge,” the man made his plea in Spanish to the authorities.
“Our country is going through difficult times,” said the speaker, who is not identified in the video. “That’s why we come here, to ask for refuge.”
CHINEESE POTION LIKE A NATURAL VACCIN AGAINST ANY VIRUS
To boost your immune system in order to protect yourself and yours from any retrovirus with the use of the following vegetables providing your body with a lot of Sulfur, Nitric Occide Magnesium, Potassium, Phosphorus etc ( which disappeared from pharmaceutical products for the last 65 years ) is recommended by the Chinese pharmacopeia. --- Use 1 glass+ of mineral or alkaline water for each of the following vegetables – Blend them separately and boil for 15 minutes.
When cold, absorb 3 tr4 table spoonful daily for 4 to 5 weeks as IMMUNATARY protection against any bad germs or retroviruses ( the potion is enough for 2 people )
WATERCRESS …………………………………………………………………… 1 PACK
ONION 2 MEDIUM
BEET ( to peel and slice ) 2 MEDIUM
GARLIC 6 oz. of peeled garlic
CABBAGE a small one to cut into pieces and blend 1 SMALL ONCE
TURNIP to peel and slice 2 MEDIUM ONE
Cut each of the above nutrients into pieces and blend separately with 1 glass each of Alkaline or mineral water and blend them separately.
Then pour the contents into a large container and boil for 15 minutes. When cold, absorb the potion every day as recommended., which will be acting and killing retroviruses like insecticide against teaches.
Gerard Jeanty
Media Advisory
Haiti’s human rights record to be examined by Universal Periodic Review
GENEVA (26 January 2022) – Haiti’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Monday, 31 January 2022 in a meeting that will be webcast live.
Haiti is one of the States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its 40th session taking place from 24 January to 3 February *, which marks the end of the UPR third cycle. Haiti’s first and second UPR reviews took place in October 2011 and November 2016, respectively.
The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report - information provided by the State under review; 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.
The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Haiti on 31 January can be found here.
Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva [NB: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be held using a combination of in-person and remote participation, and media representatives are encouraged to follow the proceedings on webcast.
Time and date: 14.30 – 18.00, Monday, 31 January 2022 (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour)
The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed twice within the first and second UPR cycles. During the third UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country.
The delegation of Haiti will be led by Mr. Berto Dorcé, Minister of Justice and Public Security.
The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Haiti are: Qatar, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Netherlands.
The webcast of the session will be at http://webtv.un.org
The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Haiti will be posted on the UPR Extranet.
The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Haiti at 16.30 on 3 February. The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during their review.
* The UPR 40th session was originally scheduled to be held in November 2021, although was postponed due to COVID-19 measures.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact Rolando Gómez, HRC Media Officer, at
To learn more about the Universal Periodic Review, visit: www.ohchr.org/hrc/upr
UN Human Rights Council, follow us on social media: Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram
- Détails
- Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti
Readers help maternity hospital in Haiti reopen its doors with a new generator
MIAMI HERALD
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
Pregnant women and newborns in desperate need of neonatal care in Haiti’s southern region once again have a place to go for medical care. The Sainte Croix Hospital in Léogâne, which closed its doors last week after a violent gang hijacked its new $38,000 generator while it was being delivered, is accepting patients once more, thanks to the generosity of Miami Herald readers. “Tomorrow, bright and early, we will start receiving patients,” the Rev. Jn Michelin St. Louis, director of the hospital, said Thursday after inspecting the installation and function of a new 125-kilowatt generator that was delivered earlier in the day. “We were really sad about having to close the hospital. But thanks to the collaboration of a lot of people, we’ve been able to transform the sadness into joy.”
On Jan. 12, gangs from an hour east in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Martissant heisted the hospital’s delivery truck along with its two drivers and the new — and not yet paid for — generator, forcing the hospital leadership to close its doors. Nurses and doctors were forced to use the flashlights on their cellphones. The hospital can’t rely on the electrical grid because of Haiti’s continual blackouts. It was the latest crisis to hit the hospital, which over the past three years has been skating from one crisis to the next because of gangs that have cut off access to the capital.
The stolen generator meant the hospital had no electricity to run its equipment, and management on Jan. 13 stopped accepting new patients while discharging others. By Wednesday all of the beds were empty except for four in the neonatal ward. Too sick to go home, the babies were forced to remain after the hospital couldn’t find any other facility capable of taking them. Two small solar panels, not enough to power up the entire facility, kept the lights on in the room. After the Herald wrote about the latest tragedy to hit the 90-bed hospital, which receives patients from five regional departments in the country because of its specialized maternity and neonatal care, readers reached out to help. Some like Rachel Sawyer made a donation directly to the U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charity, Medical Benevolence Foundation, that supports the facility’s operations, while others contacted MBF directly. One donor, a husband and wife who wish to remain anonymous, reached out to the Port-au-Prince supplier through another Haiti charity and offered to pay off the stolen generator’s debt. “I gave birth to my son in 2020 and I was so incredibly grateful for the care I received. It really struck me that so many people don’t have access to quality healthcare, including even basic maternity care,” said Sawyer, 38, who lives in Chicago. “Every mom deserves that for her and her child.”
Canada contributes $50-million at start of regional summit to discuss Haiti’s future
Mike Blanchfield
Canada is committing an additional $50 million in humanitarian aid to help embattled, poverty-racked Haiti, International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said Friday.
Sajjan announced the new funding at the start of an online meeting convened by Canada to help the Caribbean nation, which has been roiled by unrest since the summer, when President Jovenel Moise was killed in a shooting at his house that also injured his wife.
“In line with our feminist international assistance policy, it means focusing on the empowerment of Haitian women and girls,” Sajjan said in opening remarks of the online meeting where he was joined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.
“These projects will support security, health, economic growth, and humanitarian assistance for the people of Haiti,” Sajjan added.
The new spending will include $12 million for humanitarian services and food security for people still feeling the effects of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake last August, one month after the country was rocked by the assassination of its president.
Haiti’s National Police Academy will receive another $15 million to help “support for professional and inclusive policing,” said Sajjan.
“These projects aim to increase the participation of women in policing and increase integrity. Because we all know that when women are involved, it improves peace and security.”
In opening remarks, Trudeau spoke about the need to improve security in the Caribbean nation.
“In order to address Haiti’s humanitarian needs, we must also address the challenging security situation. The increase in violence is only worsening the already precarious humanitarian situation,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau and Joly stressed the importance of bolstering Haiti’s police in the face of rising violence and corruption.
“Clashes between armed gangs are making an already precarious humanitarian situation worse. They’re making the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable populations more difficult,” Joly said.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was also scheduled to speak at the virtual summit.
Joly is convening the online event while she is in the midst of a three-country European trip to talk with leaders there about the Russian military buildup on the Ukraine border.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was looking forward to a productive meeting with Central American leaders and Joly on the future of Haiti. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman represented the U.S. at the meeting.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said Los Angeles would play host this June to the Summit of the Americas, where leaders from across the two continents and the Caribbean gather every three years to talk about shared priorities.
The causes of – and potential solutions to – irregular migration will be a priority item on the agenda.
Migrants from Haiti and a number of Central American countries have been regularly moving northward, putting pressure on the southern border of the United States and creating widespread instability in the Western Hemisphere.
“Canada will host a ministerial meeting and we look forward to a strong commitment from countries, both within the Americas and around the world, in support of the Haitian people,” said Brian Nichols, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, on Thursday.
Nichols was briefing reporters on Biden’s priorities for the Summit of the Americas, which is taking place in the U.S. for the first time since the inaugural event in Miami in 1994.
“As we approach the summit, I expect that we will continue efforts among the nations of our hemisphere, as well as partners from around the world, to support those nations in the Americas that need more help, and Haiti’s obviously very much among them,” he said.
“I hope that the Haitian people will come together around a unified way forward that will put that nation back on the path to democracy and economic growth.”
Friday’s summit included representatives of the United Nations, the Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, the International Organisation of la Francophonie and the Organization of American States for what Global Affairs Canada describes as an attempt to co-ordinate security efforts and foster political stability and sustainable development.
Joly also confirmed Thursday that her counterpart from France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, would be in attendance, and that the pair “agreed on the importance of international collaboration to address the challenges faced by Haiti and Haitians particularly with respect to security issues.”
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HAITIAN TIMES
Cherfilus-McCormick wins Florida seat, becomes second Haitian-American elected to Congress
BY ONZ CHÉRY JAN. 12, 2022
FORT LAUDERDALE — Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick became the second Haitian-American elected to the United States House of Representatives after defeating Jason Mariner in the special election for Florida 20th Congressional District. She won the race Tuesday in a much-expected landslide victory.
"This is a huge moment — to be the only Haitian-American in Congress,” Cherfilus-McCormick said during an election watch party that drew about 50 people at Smitty's restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
“Haiti, right now, we have to figure out how to stabilize,” Cherfilus-McCormick added. “So the first thing we need to do is a fact-finding mission and also include the Haitian diaspora."