Haiti: aid and refugees

NEW YORK * Church World Service (CWS), the global humanitarian agency, on March 8 sent an initial shipment of emergency food and medicine to Haiti.

The agency is also advocating for U.S. protection of Haitian asylum-seekers.

The CWS shipment included a 20-foot container of dehydrated food, 30 IMA (Interchurch Medical Assistance) standard medicine boxes, and eight disaster medicine boxes. The aid will be directed to the CWS partner in the Dominican Republic to ensure safe delivery and distribution to in-country Haitians and Haitians now in the Dominican Republic.

Each IMA box contains enough medicine for about 115 people with conditions common in disaster situations.

The aid shipment is part of a multi-faceted CWS support effort mounted for Haiti after weeks of killings, battles between rebel groups and pro-government forces and the recent exile of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Conditions in Haiti remain very unstable, despite the presence of several hundred U.S., Canadian and French soldiers.

In addition to material aid, CWS is conducting a vigorous advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill on behalf of Haitian asylum seekers.

"We're urging that the U.S. provide protection to Haitian refugees who are fleeing Haiti," said CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough. "We are also requesting that the U.S. grant temporary protective status to Haitians presently in the U.S. who fear for their safety if they are deported. And that includes those Haitian asylum-seekers who are still in detention in this country."

The global agency is working with the Congressional Black Caucus and other influential advocacy groups and enlisting community and church support in urging President Bush, the Department of State and congressional representatives for humanitarian aid in the event of an influx of Haitian migrants.

"We're urging people to call the White House today," McCullough said.

The Bush administration has been adamant about returning all Haitian refugees who are picked up at sea, particularly since U.S. Coast Guard blockades began patrolling the island's waters during the uprising.

CWS is also now working in conjunction with the Department of State, refugee resettlement agencies and its own ecumenical partners in Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic to accommodate a possible flow of refugees to specified and authorized sites. CWS is one of nine agencies that the State Department works with in resettling refugees in the United States.

In addition to its Haitian and Dominican NGO (non-governmental organization) partners, CWS is conferring with the Caribbean Council of Churches and the Jamaican Council of Churches. These Caribbean ecumenical groups are voicing support for the Haitian people. Jamaica has stated that it would accept Haitian asylum-seekers.

McCullough said the CWS response is "a continuation of our longstanding presence in the Caribbean, working with ecumenical partners there."

"Through our Miami and Washington offices, we have been vigilant advocates for just treatment of Haitian asylum-seekers and detainees," he added.

In a March 1 letter to President Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said U.S. treatment of fleeing Haitian refugees "is in flagrant violation of our legal obligations under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees." He urged the Bush administration to "honor our nation's obligations to ensure that such protection is available and effective."

Kennedy specifically urged the United States to follow the example of Canada and the Dominican Republic by suspending the deportation of Haitian refugees; stopping removal proceedings and releases of Haitian asylum-seekers now in detention; and halting the current policy of returning Haitians interdicted at sea with no screening for asylum or guarantee of their safety.

Kennedy also asked the U.S. government to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organizations to prevent other Caribbean countries from closing their borders to Haitian asylum-seekers and to grant temporary protected status to Haitians now in the United States while the violence and chaos continue in Haiti.




received from

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)
202-543-1126

110 Maryland Avenue, NE, Suite 104
Washington, DC 20002