12398: Re: 12385: Deportation prison releases in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

Below is an excerpt from our advisory back in January.  Every Wednesday at 2 pm at the Ministry of Interior, an inter-agency commission (police, prosecutor, justice, interior, etc.)receives families trying to gain release of their loved ones.  They must come with proper identification (DGI card, birth certificate, baptism paper?) and produce a written letter requesting the release. In general people are being released within a month.

If the person absolutely has no one in Haiti, they can contact Alternative Chance at 404-1546 or by email at altchance@aol.com and we can provide emergency housing for a little while.  We are an unfunded program and our emergency housing is very modest, to say the least.  We try to urge their families to help them get housing and support them particularly through the difficult transition phase.  We can help them find housing consistent with their budget if need be and teach them how to live in Haiti if they left as infants or in the case of Bahamian born Haitians, if they've never been to Haiti before.  Also, we will assist in obtaining medical care if the person has serious medical problems when they arrive in Haiti.
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Advisory on Status of Detention of Criminal Deportees in Haiti
Excerpts from Alternative Chance (Chans Altenativ) advisory dated January 31, 2002:

Concerned about security issues the Haitian government continues to imprison all criminal deportees upon their arrival to Haiti from the United States and Canada. Instead of being held in police station holding cells, as they started doing in June 2000, male criminal deportees are held in the National Penitentiary and women housed in the Fort National prison for women and children.  These facilities do provide limited food and limited medical services, as opposed to the police station holding cells...Criminal deportees are released from the National Penitentiary after a close family member presents proof of identification as well as proof of relationship to the deportee and must swear in writing that they will take responsibility for the deportee upon release and further, that they agree  that in the event that the deportee is alleged to commit a crime, and is not apprehended, the responsible person will be subject to arrest until such a time that the deportee is apprehended. In 2001, 4-5 families have been subjected to arrest, with one family member imprisoned for three months until the police were able to arrest the deportee.  This deters some families from coming forward or following through with the process for releasing their loved one from detention when first deported to Haiti.

I was told that an aunt or uncle is not a "close" family member and that they would have to produce an affidavit from closer relatives, for example a mother who may be in the US.  There is an expectation that if there is no close family member in Haiti the family abroad should come to Haiti to undergo the process for release.  However, given the US immigration laws and the questionable status of many immigrants in the US, more often than not immigrants are unable to travel abroad for fear they will not be able to re-enter the US.  This coupled with financial restraints and work and parenting obligations makes it impossible for most families to travel to Haiti.

In the event that the deportee has no family member in Haiti or cannot contact them, they stay indefinitely in detention...
Additionally, illegal entry cases who are shipped back in the same plane as a group of criminal deportees end up imprisoned as well although the government realizes they should be released but are hesitant to do so if the person has no family available to claim him/her...In summary the period of time criminal deportees are detained upon arrival can range from a short period of time to an indefinite period of time depending on the above-mentioned conditions.