Haitians facing deportation want asylum

The Haitians who landed via boat in Portland recently have applied to the Government for asylum.

Information Minister Robert Morgan said a letter from an attorney representing the Haitians was received yesterday.

This came after human rights group, Freedom Imaginaries, appealed to the Government to stop the deportation of 29 Haitians from Jamaica.

It wrote to the Government urging it to comply with UN Refugee Agency and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights directives to suspend the forced return of Haitians.

The 24 men and five women were on Tuesday each fined $7,000 or three days of hard labour in the Portland Parish Court.

The Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency is now making arrangements to have them returned to Haiti.

However, in a letter, dated July 20, Freedom Imaginaries said the UN Refugee Agency has warned that “conditions in Haiti continue to be dire, and not conducive to forced returns.”

In a post on his Twitter account today, Morgan disclosed that the migrants have now made a request for asylum.

He stated there is a misunderstanding as to how the asylum process works, arguing that the government cannot force anyone to apply for asylum or can it force any illegal migrant to stay in Jamaica.

“Once a person applies for asylum there are standard protocols based on international agreements that have to be activated. These are not arbitrary decisions but based on internationally agreed and accepted protocols.”

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