Human rights watchdog alarmed over condition of ‘better’ facilities for Haitians
Published:Monday | June 17, 2024 | 12:10 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
A local human rights lobby has raised concerns over what is being described as the deplorable state of a facility in St Mary that is currently housing 21 Haitian males who were recently transferred there.
Carla Gullotta, director of Stand Up For Jamaica (SUFJ), who expressed shock at the state of the facility, argued that her organisation had been advocating for some time for a different approach to the treatment of Haitian migrants in Jamaica.
According to Gullotta, the treatment of the Haitians has neither been ideal nor in any way good and that no real improvement has been shown in how the authorities have been managing the situation.
Speaking with The Gleaner, she said the Ministry of National Security’s transfer of the men from Robins Bay to a location known as Cape Clear, near Annotto Bay in the parish, should have seen them placed in better conditions but that the new facility appears to be appalling and woefully lacking for human habitation.
“What we learned is that the new place (Cape Clear) is not better than the one before. It is worse,” said Gullotta.
She added: “We don’t think that is the right step to move forward. Secondly, we have a huge concern towards the children. There is quite an amount of them detained or at Robins Bay. They do not go to school and nobody is assisting them because those children need some psychological help … because they went through a huge trauma … leaving their house, the fear of the trip, language barrier. We were hoping to see something happening.”
In the meantime, speaking with The Gleaner, a government official, who did not wish to be named, argued that there were several sections to the Cape Clear facility, which is occupied by the United States Peace Corps for a four-week period each year.
The government official noted that the Peace Corps vacated the property in May, paving the way for the renovation of one additional section.
Reacting to images purportedly of the facility, the official said they appeared to be of a section that was not part of the renovation for the Haitians.