19419: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-U.S. returns 530 intercepted Haitians, drawing fire from activists, legislators

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

U.S. returns 530 intercepted Haitians, drawing fire from activists,
legislators

By David Cázares
Miami Bureau Chief
Posted February 28 2004

The Bush administration on Friday repatriated more than 530 Haitians picked
up at sea over the past few days, sparking a flurry of protests from
Haitian-Americans and advocates for refugees.

U.S. Coast Guard vessels returned the Haitians, including infants, to a dock
on the southern end of the violence-torn capital of Port-au-Prince.

The development came the same day that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami
decided not to prosecute any of the Haitians aboard an allegedly hijacked
Panamanian-flagged freighter that the Coast Guard stopped within 10 miles of
the coast on Wednesday. As a result, the 21 Haitians aboard -- including 17
the ship's captain described as hijackers -- likely also will be sent back
to their homeland, the Coast Guard said.

The Haitians repatriated Friday were intercepted over the past few days in
the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti, an area where the Department of
Homeland Security maintains "a robust presence," the Coast Guard said. The
security effort includes surface and air patrols by the Coast Guard and air
patrols by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It is our intention, upon rescuing Haitian migrants from peril at sea
aboard grossly overloaded and unseaworthy vessels, to immediately repatriate
them in a safe and secure manner," said Rear Admiral Harvey Johnson,
commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District.

Coast Guard officials in Miami said Thursday that they had detained 546
migrants. But on Friday, the Coast Guard announced it had repatriated more
than 530. It was unclear what happened to the others, but immigration
advocates said U.S. authorities may grant some of the Haitians interviews to
determine if they fear reprisals upon their return to Haiti.

In South Florida, the repatriation decision was decried as inhumane. Local
Haitians said the administration never gave those who fled the island a
chance to make such claims, as only a few were given the opportunity to ask
for political asylum. They also decried the decision to send Haitians back
to a country plagued by violence.

Larry Pierre, director of the Center for Haitian Studies in Miami's Little
Haiti, said the government's action further illustrates that Haitians are
treated as second-class citizens because of their ethnic and economic
backgrounds.

"Once again, it's something that shows these people don't care about
Haitians -- a bunch of poor black folks," Pierre said. "What it boils down
to is economics. They are going to be a burden on America, and [U.S.
officials] don't want them."

The administration's treatment of the Haitians sparked a protest at the
federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

Gerard Ferère, of Boca Raton, was among a group of local Haitians who
gathered to raise awareness about the political violence forcing Haitians to
leave their homeland.

"They should not send them back now," said Ferère, who pointed to the
dangers of daily life in Haiti. "The United States is asking its citizens to
leave Haiti; why is the U.S. sending Haitians back?"

At the very least, Ferère said, the Haitians stopped at sea should have been
provided temporary shelter until a sense of normalcy returns to Haiti.

"Sending them back right now would be a crime," he said.

>From the Bush administration's point of view, the repatriations were
necessary because the Haitians did not qualify for political asylum because
they had not demonstrated a credible fear of persecution if returned, State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"U.S. policy with respect to boat migrants, including Haitians, is clear:
They will be returned to the country from which they departed absent
specific concerns that they might have about protection," he said.

Boucher said Coast Guard medical technicians assessed the Haitians, who also
were given food before being "taken safely back to their own country."

Some of the Haitians who were repatriated said they were fleeing the intense
poverty in Haiti, not because of their politics or because they feared being
harmed during the uprising that has claimed dozens of lives.

"We left because life is bad here," Largesse Cendrille, 27, cradling her
year-old daughter, told The Associated Press.

Some said they jumped at the chance.

"I saw a boat getting ready to leave, so I got in it," said Dorismond Zidor,
20, who left Feb. 16 aboard a small boat from his hometown of Miragoane, in
southern Haiti.

Zidor, who is unemployed, said the Coast Guard picked up his group after two
days at sea without sufficient food or water.

"They treated us OK," he said. "They gave us some food and water."

Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigration Advocacy
Center, said the administration is playing tough.

"They are determined not to extend protection to bona fide refugees, which
is in clear violation of international law," Little said. "It's pretty
ironic that at the same time that we're urging U.S. citizens to flee [Haiti]
and sending Marines to protect our embassy, we're sending back Haitians to a
country where there is no rule of law without any due process."

In recent days, President Bush has said the federal government would turn
back any Haitians trying to reach U.S. shores. On Friday, his brother, Gov.
Jeb Bush, praised the administration's "solid" plan to prevent a massive
wave of Haitian immigration.

"Floridians should be comforted that the federal government has a
significantly more aggressive posture to protect our shores and the huge
social costs that could come from an avalanche of refugees," the governor
said.

State Sen. Phillip Brutus, D-North Miami, the first Haitian-American elected
to the Florida Legislature, said he was "appalled" by the repatriations and
feared some Haitians were being returned to "almost certain deaths."

"Are we to believe that not one of these people had a well-founded fear of
persecution?" he said. "They obviously did not give anyone a chance to apply
for asylum, and that is immoral and illegal."

Members of South Florida's congressional delegation sought to prevent the
repatriations this week.

"The last thing we would want is for the Coast Guard to take people back to
Haiti that have fled and watch these individuals slaughtered," U.S. Rep.
Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, said at a news conference late Thursday in Miami. He
was joined by U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, who also
said he feared what could happen to Haitians upon their return.

"No community is more impacted by Haiti than this community," said
Diaz-Balart, who like other Cuban-American legislators, has expressed
support for Haitians in the past. "If they are returned they will face
extreme crisis."

Staff Writers Noaki Schwartz, Thomas Monnay, Jennifer Peltz and Rafael
Lorente and Maya Bell of the Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report,
which was supplemented with information from The Associated Press.



David Cázares can be reached at dcazares@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5002.

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