12174: The secret war against Haitians (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Mon, May. 27, 2002

The secret war against Haitians

For more than five months, a secretly issued U.S. policy has split up
Haitian refugee families, keeping parents away from their children, wives
away from their husbands, brothers away from their sisters and their mothers
locked in a maximum-security jail. The policy, selective and discriminatory
against Haitian refugees, has made it all but impossible for asylum-seekers
to make their cases in freedom.

It wasn't until Miami immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit on behalf of the
detainees that the Bush administration admitted to having issued the
arbitrary policy in December, days after a Haitian boat carrying 187
refugees ran aground in Biscayne National Park.

Before that, Haitian asylum-seekers were regularly paroled within days of
arrival, allowed to present their cases and live with relatives. Then again,
most Haitian boats never reach South Florida because they're interdicted at
sea. When this one made it into local waters, it set off alarms from
Tallahassee to Washington, D.C. In a knee-jerk overreaction, the
administration slammed a lock on the Haitians.

Lamentably, no amount of legal evidence or moral reasoning has swayed the
administration to return to the previous policy. Just days ago, a Miami
federal judge tossed out the refugees' lawsuit without a hearing. U.S.
District Judge Joan Lenard said their claims need to be taken up with the
politicians who make immigration laws.

But as advocates prepare to appeal that ruling, the prolonged detention of
more than 240 Haitians stands as evidence of needless cruelty against those
who seek asylum.

''Our government has decided to single out the Haitians. This is not about
saving Haitian lives -- it's about keeping Haitians out,'' said Cheryl
Little, the refugees' lead attorney at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy
Center. ``We are simply asking that they get equal treatment and that their
cases are heard.''

Advocate voices from Amnesty International to the Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights, along with South Florida congressional leaders, have chimed
in, seeking justice for the Haitians. Even Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin,
president of Barry University, has offered to sponsor the refugees.

Alarmed by reports of harsh treatment against the refugee women held at
Miami's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, or TGK, a
maximum-security jail, Amnesty International has called for an end to the
new anti-Haitian policy.

''Amnesty International is calling on the U.S. authorities to fully
reinstate the government's previous policy regarding Haitian asylum-seekers,
to ensure that all Haitian asylum-seekers have a full and fair opportunity
to present their asylum claims,'' the international human rights
organization argued in a public statement last month.

The prolonged detention is not only immoral in the eyes of international
advocates, it's also illegal. The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees has cited international accords that prohibit such detention.

''Under international refugee law, asylum-seekers should not be detained
except when it is absolutely necessary,'' a United Nations representative
wrote in an advisory opinion last month. Such detention, the representative
wrote, ``may make it more difficult for asylum-seekers and refugees to
secure legal counsel, communicate with family members and access legal
materials and interpreters to assist in preparing their claims.''

Most thundering, however, are the words of the refugees detained in
overcrowded, unsanitary conditions.

''We did not commit any crime, and we are treated like criminals,'' states a
letter signed by Haitian women held at TGK. ``We can not even go outside to
take a breath of fresh air.''

No official response has been as compelling. That's because this policy is
not rooted in justice or even caution; it's rooted in bigotry. If it had
been rooted in justice, it never would have been a secret.



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