19025: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Editorial (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Mon, Feb. 23, 2004

In the event of a mass exodus from Haiti

OUR OPINION: IDENTIFY THOSE WITH LEGITIMATE ASYLUM CLAIMS


Once again, a calamity is brewing in Haiti. Once again, we fear that the
U.S. government will slam the door on Haitians with valid asylum claims,
without even the pretense of a screening, and return them to face
persecution, if not death, in their homeland.

Violence has engulfed the north of Haiti as armed gangs of pro- and
anti-government toughs battle for control of towns. Aid organizations warn
of a humanitarian crisis if food and other provisions can't be brought into
the area. The U.S. government has urged Americans to leave Haiti while they
can.

Duty to protect

The climate is ripe for an exodus of desperate people taking to the seas
seeking the safety of distant shores. We hope that diplomatic efforts and
international intervention prevents such a crisis. But should it come to
pass, the Bush administration shouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past or
continue current policies that deny refugees the chance to earn asylum
protection on the merit of their cases.

Our government has an obligation to protect U.S. shores from an uncontrolled
human tide. And not all of those who flee would have a legitimate claim to
asylum. People who aren't specific targets because of their activism or
other cause may not qualify for asylum. Nevertheless, international refugee
law dictates that governments, including ours, give persons with legitimate
claims a fair shot at proving their case. There mustn't be a repeat of a
case like that of Marie Zette, who fled Haiti after the coup that toppled
Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power in 1991. Marie, 16, was killed in her bed
by Tonton Macoutes the night after she was repatriated by the U.S. Coast
Guard in 1992.

Haitians currently interdicted at sea are subjected to a preposterous policy
called, by those who apply it, ''the scream test.'' If the person doesn't
scream loud enough in protest of certain persecution in Haiti, he is
immediately repatriated along with every other Haitian aboard.

Contrast this with the policy applied to interdicted Cubans: All are
interviewed by U.S. asylum officers and informed of their right to request
asylum.

More may flee

The Bush administration is preparing space at Guantánamo, where as many as
21,000 Haitians were housed after being picked up at sea during the
mid-1990s crisis. If there is a mass migration now, the focus will be ''to
discourage people from taking to sea,'' a spokesman for the Department of
Homeland Security said. We hope that doesn't mean that boats will be turned
back summarily, as in 1992, when even Haitians who screamed were returned
into the hands of their persecutors. That would be inhumane.

The political violence raging in Haiti suggests that more, not fewer, people
may be forced to flee. Those with valid claims deserve a genuine opportunity
to prove their case.

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