a1673: 1 in 10 Haitian Child enslaved say activists (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


Miami Herald

Posted on Sat, Apr. 13, 2002

One in 10 children in Haiti is enslaved, activists contend
By CAROLYN SALAZAR
csalazar@herald.com

It is estimated that one out of 10 children in Haiti is
forced into slavery, toiling as maids in homes where they
are beaten, overworked and underfed, Haitian rights
activists say.

That's the basis for a report by the National Coalition for
Haitian Rights, released Friday, in which the group, which
is meeting in Miami through Sunday, called for Haitian
groups to band together to eradicate the centuries-old
practice.

In exchange for shelter, food, schooling and the promise of
a better life, Haitian children are handed over by their
parents to families who end up exploiting them.

They are called restavecs -- Creole for ''those who remain
with'' -- and although the practice is not limited to
Haiti, it is a common practice in the impoverished country.

Poor families, unable to adequately provide for their
children, often give their offspring away to more
financially stable families in the hope that the new family
will be able to offer a better future. Instead, Haitian
rights advocates say, the children, usually girls between
the ages of 4 and 12, are given no education and treated
like slaves -- forced to cook and clean 12 to 14 hours a
day and subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

The practice has been exported to South Florida, but kept
largely secret.

1998 CASE

A case came to light in 1998 after a 12-year-old girl was
gunned down by a stray bullet in Allapattah. During the
investigation, it was discovered that Marie Joseph hadn't
been to school in a year and had been enslaved by the woman
entrusted with her care.

Two years later, a 13-year-old Haitian girl told police she
was beaten, raped and forced to work as a slave inside a
$400,000 Pembroke Pines home. Willy Pompee Sr., 44, and his
son, Willy Pompee Jr., 21 -- who allegedly imported the
girl as a slave -- fled to Haiti while under investigation.

Luc Especa, a spokesman for Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, said Friday that child domesticity is a problem
plaguing his country, but it is not as prevalent as people
believe it is. Especa discounted the 10 percent figure in
the report.

''Those figures are very exaggerated. Saying one in 10
children are living in domesticity is far beyond reality,''
he said.

However, a 1990 study by the Minnesota Lawyers
International Human Rights Committee concluded there were
240,000 restavecs in Haiti.

Friday's report outlines recommendations the National
Coalition for Haitian Rights says will end the custom in
Haiti and prevent it from spreading elsewhere.

''We are saying, let's put the issue on the table as a
Haitian community. Let's begin to address it collectively.
Let's hook up together and make a difference,'' said
Jocelyn McCalla, a former NCHR director who co-wrote the
report with Merrie Archer. ``The situation should not exist
and should be eliminated as soon as possible.''

Among the report's recommendations:

• Tightening Haitian laws to make people engaging in child
slavery more criminally liable.

• Increasing the minimum age for domestic workers from 12
to 15.

• Waging a public awareness campaign on child slavery that
will provide intensive public education on children's
rights and alternatives to corporal punishment.

COMMUNITY AGENDA

''We want to stress that they are children who don't have
the opportunity to enjoy their childhood,'' said Leonie
Hermantin, director of Research and Strategic Planning for
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center and former head of the
Haitian American Foundation. 'We are urging the Haitian
community to make it part of their agenda for the
betterment of Haiti. People should stand up and say,
`Restavec no more.' ''

State Rep. Phillip Brutus, the first Haitian-American
elected to the Florida Legislature, said the only way child
slavery will be eliminated is if Haitians coordinate their
efforts and place pressure on the Haitian government to
enforce stricter laws.

''We have to put pressure on the Haitian government and
pressure on ourselves,'' Brutus said at Friday's
conference.



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