More Haitians land on Jamaican shores

Frustrated Caribbean leaders met virtually last week to discuss Haiti’s troubling political situation with a leading prime ministerial advocate calling for stepped up pressure on what remains of Haiti’s teetering government to expand its mandate to form a national unity government.

The region has been pushing interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry to widen the scope of his administration to include a wide cross session of Haitian political and civil society players as a possible solution to the crisis and the feeling of embattlement that has engulfed the nation of more than 11 million people. He was speaking to lawmakers in St. Vincent last week.

“It was felt by us that there was a need for greater action from the Haitian government which had agreed to certain decisions taken at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago in (July). CARICOM is disappointed that the prime minister of Haiti has not taken action towards broadening the governing coalition and has not taken other agreed actions,” said Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves after the virtual leaders meeting. His Surinamese counterpart, President Chan Santokhi, has even stepped up calls for a multinational force to help with the perilous security situation on the ground. Jamaica, The Bahamas and other regional member nations have already agreed to contribute military and paramilitary personnel to any such force going to help restore order and support local forces.

“There is need for CARICOM to play a more proactive role at the political level in discussions with Haiti organized by the various interest groups. In this regard, CARICOM has to be very much involved in the drafting of the resolution on Haiti to be tabled at the United Nations Security Council. Our input is critical in that regard. On the issue of the lead role to be played by CARICOM, there is need for the Haitian government to confirm in writing that it wishes CARICOM to find solutions to the deteriorating political and security situation, which has contributed to the collapse of all functioning structures of the government,” Gonsalves said.

As an indication of the country’s dire circumstances, a boatload of dehydrated and exhausted Haitians landed at the weekend on Jamaica’s southeastern coast on Saturday, with the new arrivals pleading for help and asking authorities not to return them to their strife-torn homeland as there is little hope for a better life there.

The 36 Haitians, half of them males, indicated that they had spent about two weeks in the open seas, baked by a blazing sun and surviving on a rickety boat as they struggled to make it to neighboring Jamaica in much the same way another group of 37 beached on the island in early July.

The Haitians were apparently aiming to make it to the Florida coast but were pushed by strong ocean currents to Jamaica where authorities will now entertain their applications for asylum after they would have passed through the courts system on indictments for illegal entry.

CARICOM is particularly worried about Haiti as there appears to be no let up in the level of violence on the ground there. Latest official reports indicate that nearly 2,000 people have been killed between Easter and July, including dozens by snipers hiding out in nearby hills and abandoned buildings. In the past year, nearly 150 police officers in several towns have been killed or seriously injured even as locals have stepped up efforts to kill gang members causing the mayhem.

“There may be persons who may be saying, ‘why is it that the prime minister has taken the time to deal with this?’ If a problem like this existed in St. Lucia or in Trinidad, God forbid, or anywhere else in CARICOM, we might have had a greater sense of immediacy. But the fact remains Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community. We cannot stand askance,” Gonsalves told lawmakers.