Amid challenging circumstances, the 37 Haitian individuals who arrived in Jamaica by boat recently are happy to be in the country. Housed in a camp in St Mary, they are receiving medical care and other essential support. Despite the hardships they may face, they are thankful for the chance to be in Jamaica, as it offers them hope for a new and better life.

Tears, fears at Haitian camp

■ Migrants, caregivers on an emotional roller-coaster ride

■Official: They stopped saying ‘asylum’ when told of charges, deportation

23 Jul 2023/Corey Robinson & Jovan Johnson Senior Staff Reporters

THEIR STORIES are gutturning – a deafening cacophony of gunfire, explosions, and the screams of women and children raped at will in Haiti.

Blood, tears, and death were the common themes, mixed with the acrid smell of burning flesh.

None among them is spared the horror. Not a woman who is four months pregnant, they told caregivers through a Jamaica-born interpreter, nor an eight-year-old girl who witnessed her mother being killed. Her father must carry on back home, raising two children in political chaos.

At the time, the treacherous Caribbean Sea seemed more forgiving. Thirty-seven people. One dingy boat. Fourteen days adrift. No food or water. And the ever-looming threat of sickness or an angry wave.

Last week, Jamaica imposed a $7,000 fine or three days in prison on the adults for illegal entry and ordered that they be sent back home to Haiti. They would love to stay in the island and find work. And a lastminute application for asylum last week could bring them some relief. Still, their fate remain uncertain.

Even in the rustic St Mary camp, where they are now being housed, isolated behind languages, police guards, and the anxiety of the unknown, life seemed better than at home in Haiti. There was the assurance of three meals daily and routine medical check-ups.

As a Sunday Gleaner team surveyed the grounds last Thursday, two children from among the group walked by smiling, arms filled with mangoes.

FINES IMPOSED

It seemed their caregivers were far more unhinged, however. The tales have left some in tears, others angry at the fines imposed.

“They weren’t even given a chance to tell their stories in court.

The horror stories of murder and rape. Stories of all their possessions taken away,” bemoaned one caregiver, next to tears.

“They are not embellishing. The nurse was here yesterday and she was in tears. She lives in Haiti and she said she doesn’t travel by road but by air, because they just pull you over, rob you, rape you, kill you,” she said.

“I have not eaten. I have been bawling the whole time because you become in touch with their feelings and you have to empathise,” the caregiver told The Sunday Gleaner. “These people are poor; they are farmers, masons, welders. There is one nail technician, carpenters, and fishermen.”

Police at the camp said there have been no security issues.

As they set sail a few weeks ago, they carried their certificates, identification documents, cell phones, and tools, which were confiscated in Portland upon landing. Not having those documents and equipment back home hardens things.

“I just can’t understand why more Jamaicans are not taking up this thing, realising what’s going on, and help,” bemoaned another caregiver, adding that some Haitians expressed fear for their lives if they return home.

For now, the caregivers bring them nail polish, sanitary napkins, colouring books and crayons, clothes, food, cakes, and tears flow with every new French word they learn and with every flash of smile from a child.

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