#3553: Blanchet replies to Poincy

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>


 From: Jean Poincy <caineve@idt.net>

"Having reached the point of inertia in their thinking process,
 the economic refugees allow their cowardice
 dictate their fate on the sea. The political situation is just an
 excuse. I think it is correct to return them to Ayiti regardless their
 circumstances. Seeking political asylum should not even be an issue for
 whomever got picked up from the sea."


 This is an odious statement!

 Refugees --  whether  economic or political -- are entitled to

 due process according to international conventions signed by

 the US and the Bahamas. Amnesty International recently made

 that point in the case of the refugees recently returned to Haiti

 by the Bahamian authorities. Some Haitian activists in Miami

 -- among them Madame Bastien -- made that point as forcefully.

 And to suggest  as Poincy does that these folks are motivated

 by cowardice is simply beyond belief.

Poincy ought to know better!

 Max Blanchet