15325: Coates: 15312: Re: 15306: (Chamberlain) Haitian Influx (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Carrol F. Coates <ccoates@mail.binghamton.edu>

>From: GariotGreot@aol.com
>----------------------------------------
>
>I was a little disturbed by that story written by the Associated Press
>reporter. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that noticed it, but some of
>the
>quotes in that article sounded like the Americans who say Haitians add
>nothing
>to America.
>
>I have family in Haiti--now Bahamian citizens--and the say anti-Haitian
>sentiment has been festering for years and now is on the rise--at an
>alarming
>rate. Have any of you heard similar news from family or friends in the
>Bahamas.
>
>Gariot Louima


I agree with this reaction by Gariot Louima.  I was in the Bahamas at the
end of March and had extensive conversations with Ambassador Harold Louis
Joseph.  During my brief stay, there was one short article in one of the
Nassau dailies, noting the number of illegal Haitian immigrants being
held.  The article noted a problem, but certainly not at the crisis
level.  The author of the Assoc. Press article gives no sign of being aware
of the broader realities:  I cannot give details, but Ambassador Joseph
pointed out to me that there have been Haitians in the Bahamas for many
years, some of them involved in business, various areas of commerce, the
government, etc.  I do not know whether the Ambassador will choose to react
to this sort of sensationalist publicity, but I did get a brief glimpse of
the honest and energetic efforts he is making, with a limited staff, to
educate Bahamians who do not understand the full scope of the problem as
well as to help those of his countrymen who land, ill-advised, on the
shores of those islands.