19191: Esser: Bush Says U.S. Will `Turn Back' Refugees From Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Bloomberg News
http://www.bloomberg.com

February 25, 2004 14:21 EST

Bush Says U.S. Will `Turn Back' Refugees From Haiti (Update2)

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush urged Haitians to
``stay home'' amid a rebellion sweeping the country and not attempt
to flee violence in the Caribbean nation by trying to reach the U.S.

``We still hope to be able to achieve a political settlement between
the current government and the rebels,'' Bush said at the White
House. ``We will turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our
shore'' and ``we strongly encourage the Haitian people to stay home''
while a political solution is found, he said.

Haiti's unrest, aimed at ousting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
has stirred concerns of an exodus of Haitians by boat, which might
create a refugee emergency in Florida. So far, that outflow hasn't
been seen, and the U.S. Coast Guard is on patrol in the strait
between Haiti and Cuba in a bid to prevent it.

In his remarks today, Bush said he will urge ``the international
community to provide a security presence'' once a political
settlement has been reached.

The U.S. has sent about 50 Marines to secure its embassy and related
facilities in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which is under threat of
rebel attack. Cable News Network reported from the city that
residents are erecting barriers along roads in an attempt to block
any advance by fighters loyal to former police official Guy Philippe.
The rebels already have seized Cap-Haitian, Haiti's second-biggest
city, and other towns in the country.

Marines escorted foreigners leaving the capital today, the Associated
Press reported.

`Widespread Looting'

Hospitals throughout Haiti have shut down and ``severe malnutrition''
is increasing, United Nations Under-Secretary- General Kieran
Prendergast told the Security Council today. Prendergast reported
widespread looting, including a ``total breakdown of law and order''
in rebel-controlled areas.

``Haiti requires a long-term, sustained and broad engagement by the
international community,'' Prendergast said. ``There is no quick fix
for Haiti and no covering up the depth of its problems.''

French Ambassador to the UN Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said talks
involving both sides in the dispute will take place in Paris on
Friday. Agence France-Presse earlier reported that the opposition had
said it couldn't attend because of the situation in Haiti.

Peace Effort

Haiti won independence from France 200 years ago, and French remains
the Caribbean nation's official language. France has been working
with the U.S. and the Caribbean Community group of governments on a
power-sharing arrangement that would retain Aristide and end the
violence.

French civilian police would go to Haiti ``in the framework'' of a
political settlement and with the mandate of a Security Council
resolution, de La Sabliere said.

Sending U.S. forces to counter the rebellion and protect Aristide
from being overthrown is ``not something that's been in our plans,''
White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Washington.
``We continue to work on the diplomatic efforts,'' McClellan said,
adding that the U.S. backs peace pressure from the international
community and countries such as France and Canada.

Violence

The UN Security Council today condemned the violence in Haiti in a
statement that said members ``deplore'' the decision by Aristide's
political opponents to reject an international peace plan that would
allow him to stay in office until his term ends in 2006. The
statement said anyone responsible for human rights violations would
be held accountable.

``The members of the council urge the international community to
respond to the serious humanitarian situation in Haiti,'' the
statement said. ``They call upon all sides in Haiti's conflict to
facilitate the distribution of food and medicine.''

The Security Council will hold an open meeting on Haiti tomorrow
afternoon, at which any of the 191 UN members may speak.

A decade after the U.S. intervened to restore Aristide to power after
a coup and attempted to improve the country's prospects, Haiti
remains the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Its 7.5 million
people generate an average income of less than $2 a day in a country
where half of adults are illiterate and AIDS is a threat. Haiti, with
as many people as its neighbor the Dominican Republic, has an economy
about a fifth as large.

A security issue for the U.S. is Haiti's role in the flow of
narcotics to American buyers. Drug smugglers haul Colombian cocaine
to Haiti by boats and planes for storage and eventual shipment to the
U.S., usually through Miami, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Aristide, overthrown in 1991, was returned to power in 1994 after
President Bill Clinton sent 20,000 U.S. troops to the nation. The
former priest left office in 1995, and won re-election to the
presidency in November 2000 in a vote boycotted by the opposition as
tainted by fraud.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Heidi Przybyla at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor of this story:
Glenn Hall at ghall@bloomberg.net

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