Quick repatriation for latest group of Haitian migrants

Kensington, East Portland:

Less than 36 hours after landing illegally on a beach in Kensington in East Portland, the 20 Haitians who were picked up by the police on Saturday were repatriated Sunday night.

The decision by the Ministry of National Security to return the Haitians to their homeland has not gone down well with founder of Freedom Imaginaries, Malene Alleyne, who lashed out at what she described as the draconian approach on the part of Government in handling the plight faced by Haitian migrants fleeing persecution and civil unrest in Haiti.

According to Alleyne, who is the chief advocate for Haitian migrants fleeing to Jamaica in search of asylum, Freedom Imaginaries is deeply concerned about Jamaica’s continued practice of ‘incommunicado detention’ and collective expulsion of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers hoping for refuge on the island’s shores.

“Based on our monitoring, since July 2023 alone, over 150 Haitians were collectively expelled without due process, without access to an asylum procedure, and without an individualised assessment of their protection needs,” Alleyne declared.

“We appreciate the need for law enforcement officials to carry out their duties, [but] this must be done in strict conformity with Jamaica’s Constitution and obligations under international law. In this regard, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (UN Refugee Convention), as well as customary international law, prohibit refoulement – the forced removal of persons to a place where they may face risk of persecution, torture or other serious or irreparable harm.

“For this reason, the UN Refugee Agency has called for a moratorium on the forced return of Haitians to Haiti at this time, noting that “the situation in Haiti may be characterised as events seriously disturbing public order, or alternatively as a massive violation of human rights,” she added.

SECURITY RISKS

While there has been no official statement regarding why the latest group of Haitians was repatriated, the Government has previously pointed to security risks in relation to other groups that were quickly sent back to their country. These risks included human trafficking.

Yesterday Alleyne said the UN Refugee Convention also enshrines the principle of non-penalisation for irregular entry, which means that Haitian asylum seekers should not be criminalised, detained in prison conditions, nor excluded from refugee protection because of a breach of entry requirements.

She also pointed out that, importantly, Jamaica’s Constitution guarantees to all persons in Jamaica, regardless of their migration status, certain fundamental rights, including the right to due process, the right to communicate with an attorney-at-law, and the rights of children to special measures of protection.

She argued that the notion that there could be a category of persons in Jamaica who exist beyond the protective cover of the Constitution, even for a moment, is repugnant to the rule of law.

“We therefore reiterate our calls for Jamaica to work with CARICOM, the international community, and multi-stakeholder groups to establish a comprehensive, rights-based framework and coordinated mechanism for the protection of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers in line with principles of humanitarian assistance, protection, cooperation, and international solidarity,” she concluded.

The Haitians were transported back to their homeland aboard a Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard vessel.

editorial@gleanerjm.com