22466: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Haitians, Cubans in limbo (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Jun. 23, 2004

GUANTANAMO


Haitians, Cubans in limbo

BY KENDRICK MEEK

www.house.gov/kenmeek


It is hard to reconcile the reputation of America as the world's most
compassionate protector of human rights when you visit the U.S. Naval Base
at Guantánamo, Cuba. I recently visited the base and met with some of the
Cuban and Haitian refugees detained there, sometimes for years, by our
government.

These detainees are not criminals; they are not ''enemy combatants'' or
terrorists. They are not a danger to society. However, they were forced to
flee from political violence and persecution. Although Haitians and Cubans
interdicted at sea took different paths, both find a dead end at Guantánamo.

Fleeing Haitians who are interdicted at sea must pass the ''shout test'' --
they are not asked if they fear persecution but instead must speak up on
their own and proclaim their fear loud enough for U.S. immigration officials
to hear. This is the only way that they will be further interviewed by
immigration officials and allowed to make a case that they would suffer more
harm if forced to return home.

Cubans fleeing the Castro regime and interdicted at sea are already presumed
to face persecution. Nonetheless, it is the policy of the Bush
administration to send refugees from both Haiti and Cuba who are found to
have a credible fear of persecution not to the United States, but to
Guantánamo. There, they wait in limbo until the administration finds a third
country for resettlement.

While at Guantánamo, I met with two Cubans, Hiram García Casola and Jordis
Cabrera Herrera, who were intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Herrera, the son of another refugee held at Guantánamo, is only 14 years
old. Casola and Herrera have been held for 13 months and 10 months,
respectively.

They are only two of the 37 Cuban refugees currently detained at Guantánamo
-- all pro-democracy activists and their children forced to flee Cuba
following Castro's March 2003 crackdown, during which 75 prominent Cuban
activists were given lengthy prison sentences. The Cuban government is
currently holding an estimated 350 political activists, independent
journalists and librarians.

It is seemingly impossible for Haitians to convince immigration officials
that they fear for their lives. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 2,189
Haitians were interdicted at sea since January. However, none of these
refugees was granted asylum. I spoke with a young Haitian man at Guantánamo,
one of many who have been held indefinitely by the Bush administration, who
has been held for more than a year as the United States searches for a third
country in which to resettle him. He expressed his extreme despair over the
uncertainty of his future.

The administration asserts that these Haitian and Cuban refugees must not be
brought to the United States but must be sent to other countries to
discourage others to follow. Unfortunately, this policy is simply
ineffective. Therefore, I have asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to end
these indefinite detentions and either resettle these refugees in third
countries within a reasonable time period or allow them into the United
States pending a suitable placement.

Surely, a great nation such as ours should have a more-humane and
even-handed approach to treating refugees who have fled for their lives.
Haitians and Cubans alike have a strong and abiding interest in these issues
and should join together to insist on better treatment for people seeking
the protection of our country.

I urge the South Florida community to contact members of Congress and the
White House on this crucial issue. Political refugees deserve our
protection, but not at the cost of their own freedom.

Kendrick Meek, a Democrat, is a member of the U.S. House from northern
Miami-Dade and southern Broward counties.

_________________________________________________________________
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