21569: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-651 Haitians picked up on 3 sailboats returned to homela (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


651 Haitians picked up on 3 sailboats returned to homeland



sun-sentinel.com

April 27, 2004, 4:37 PM EDT

The U.S. Coast Guard in Miami on Tuesday said they repatriated 651 Haitian
migrants to Port-au-Prince at 10 a.m. today after rescuing them from three
dangerously overcrowded sailboats over the weekend.

The first group of 380 migrants was spotted on a homemade 50-foot sail
freighter 18 miles southwest of the North Claw of Haiti by a reconnaissance
jet . The boat was intercepted by the cutter Forward. No injuries were
reported although many of the passengers were suffering from dehydration.

The second incident involved 173 migrants who were picked up 54 miles
northwest of Great Inagua, Bahamas, by the Cutter Gallatin without incident
on Saturday. They too had been spotted by a Coast Guard plane, said Petty
Officer Anastasia Burns in a prepared release.

The third and last group of 133 Haitians also took place on Saturday, this
time 24 miles southeast of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. They too
were in a 50-foot sail freighter that was spotted by a Coast Guard jet.

All three boats were destroyed.

The Coast Guard said 1,591 Haitian migrants have been returned to their
homeland since Feb. 21.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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