Editorial | Popularise refugee policy

Given how matters unfolded with respect to the 37 Haitians who say they want to apply for refugee status in Jamaica, it seems that the island’s border control, law-enforcement, and other relevant public officials should be regularly refreshed on Jamaica’s asylum/refugee policy.

But beyond being updated on that document, they should also be sensitised to Haiti’s deep, and still unfolding, political and security crisis; Jamaica’s role in attempting to help Haiti solve its problem; and they should be encouraged to be empathetic to would-be Haitian refugees.

Jamaica is one of Haiti’s closest neighbours – a few hundred miles to the west of that country’s western tip. Although Jamaicans and Haitians speak different languages, they share many historical, social, and cultural similarities. The countries are also members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a group of 15 regional states that cooperate on a range of issues and are (with the exception of The Bahamas) working to transform themselves into a single market and economy.

Unfortunately, Haiti, with its long stint of dictatorship and weak political consensus, has not enjoyed the sustained stability and democratic norms of most of its CARICOM partners. In past periods of crises in Haiti, Jamaica has been seen as a potential honest broker. Jamaica, however, has not tended to be a destination for mass asylum seeking or a stop-off point for Haitian economic migrants.

INSTABILITY WORSENED

The current episode of Haitian instability worsened two years ago when the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated. Political factions have failed to agree on how or when to elect Mr Moïse’s successor and members of the chamber of deputies and the Senate.

In that environment of political instability and faced with a weakened national police force, criminal gangs operate with impunity, taking hostages for ransom, barricading ports, and generally worsening the country’s state of insecurity. Hundreds of Haitians, including scores of police officers, have been arbitrarily murdered. The United Nations has warned that millions of Haitians face food insecurity.

Many Haitians have fled the country, including the 37 who landed in Jamaica’s eastern parish of Portland last month. Eight children were among them.

The adults were prosecuted for illegal entry to Jamaica, found guilty of the charges, and fined J$7,000. Subsequently, lawyers for a local NGO wrote to the Government, indicating the wish of the Haitians to seek refugee status.

In this context, three points are worth noting.

One is Haiti’s status as a member of CARICOM. It is expected that citizens of a CARICOM member that is facing exceptional circumstances will be dealt with a high degree of sensitivity even if, as is the case of Haiti, those citizens fall outside the community’s freedom-of-movement protocols.

Second, as in the past, Jamaica, through Prime Minister Andrew Holness, and the foreign minister, Kamina Johnson Smith, has assumed a leadership role in attempting to coax Haiti’s factions towards political consensus and democratic engagement. Indeed, a former Jamaican prime minister, Bruce Golding, is a member of a CARICOM, The Eminent Persons Group, doing the heavy lifting on that project. The other members are two former prime ministers, Perry Christie of The Bahamas and Kenny Anthony of St Lucia.

Finally, Jamaica, on paper, has an exceedingly robust refugee policy that ticks all the boxes for a country that could possibly face asylum requests.

READIED FOR DEPORTATION

Government spokesmen suggested that the Haitians were taken to court, sentenced and fined, and were being readied for deportation because of their illegal entry into Jamaica. They had not applied to be refugees, which, according to one government official, no one could force them to do. Which is true.

However, under Jamaica’s refugee protocols, the process of helping a prospective asylum seeker understand his or her rights should begin at the start of his or her interaction with domestic officials. A person’s immigration status, the policy makes clear, has no bearing on his or her ability to seek refugee status. And prospective refugees, if they do not speak English, should be afforded non-government interpreters and/or translators.

Further, at the initial interview, including of people who enter Jamaica irregularly – such as the Haitians who arrived last month – “the immigration officer should ascertain whether the individual wishes to apply for refugee status in Jamaica”.

If the officer determines that the person is an “undesirable immigrant”, arrangements should be made to remove the person from Jamaica. Otherwise, the refugee-determination system should kick in.

If it seems odd, if the policies were followed and the process worked, that the Haitians were prosecuted, then in short order, their request for refugee status is entertained.

Notwithstanding the oddities of Portland and the fuzziness of the official explanations, the authorities should ensure that everyone who should know is fully conversant with Jamaica’s refugee policy. If that policy is adhered to, it is unlikely Jamaica breached international obligation in dealing with asylum seekers or appear to be insensitive to the plight of people fleeing deep crises.