One such deportation aircraft, according to officials, lands 52 refugees in Cap-Haitien. Human rights organizations warn the deportees that they will likely become targets for gangs who control a large portion of the Caribbean nation.
According to US and Haitian officials, the US has deported over 50 Haitian migrants and refugees, sending them back to a nation that has recently seen a sharp increase in gang violence.
According to a Haitian immigration official who spoke to the AFP news agency on Thursday, 52 people from Haiti touched down at the airport in the city of Cap-Haitien.
A representative of the US Department of Homeland Security made the announcement about the return flight.
“US policy is to return noncitizens who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States,” a spokeswoman stated.
Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned as a result of strong gangs banding together to conduct a concerted offensive across the Caribbean island since the end of February. The gangs targeted police stations, jails, and the airport.
Human rights advocates called the flights used for deportation “inhumane.” They issued a warning, saying the criminal groups that control a large portion of the nation will probably turn their attention to the deportees.
A letter urging a freeze on deportations to Haiti was issued by over 500 human rights organizations last month, addressed to President Joe Biden and other US officials in view of the deteriorating situation.
“Today, in the absence of a functioning state, armed groups terrorise the population with systematic rape, indiscriminate kidnapping, and mass killing, all with impunity,” the letter stated.
Last month, the United States, the European Union, and other nations started making plans for their citizens to depart Haiti, and the UN also evacuated its staff because of the unrest.
Following weeks of delays, an official decree on Tuesday designated nine members to Haiti’s transitional government council, marking a step closer to restoring some semblance of order and opening the door for fresh elections to replace President Jovenel Moise in 2021.
Both the legislature and elections have not been held in Haiti since 2016.
A UN-backed team headed by Kenya was supposed to arrive in the nation last year and assist the struggling police in keeping criminal gangs in check, but the squad has not yet made its way there.
This month, an exodus from the country is being driven by the circumstances, according to the United Nations migration organization, the International Organization for Migration [IOM].
More than 360,000 individuals are internally displaced in Haiti, according to the report, with “many multiple times over.”
According to the IOM, neighboring nations forcibly repatriated about 13,000 Haitian migrants and refugees in March.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
