Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 17 septembre 2019

 ‘Give Paperless Haitians Temporary Asylum’

HAITIAN TIMES

HAITIAN Chargé d’Affaires Dorval Darlier wants the Bahamas government to grant temporary asylum to undocumented migrants affected by Hurricane Dorian.

This, he asserted yesterday, was the best way to assist devastated Haitians living in Grand Bahama and Abaco to rebuild their lives after losing everything to Dorian’s destruction.

His comments came days after North Eleuthera MP Hank Johnson was caught on video by a Florida reporter arguing about the picture being painted of how the Bahamas government is treating Haitian evacuees. Mr Johnson insisted migrant storm victims are being treated fairly and accused a group of Haitians evacuees of complaining.

Meanwhile, Mr Darlier appealed to the government yesterday to enforce a mandatory evacuation in Abaco, telling The Tribune some storm victims were refusing to leave despite mounting health concerns.

However, the chargé said he had no idea just how many people from various Abaco shanty towns were still alive or dead in the aftermath of the storm as the government had not yet communicated its findings regarding those communities.

But what he was certain of yesterday was the larger communities – the Mudd and Pigeon Peas – were completely wiped out, leaving many missing and families desperate to find loved ones.

“I’ve been to the Mudd and Pigeon Peas, that does not exist anymore. There is no Mudd, there is no Pigeon Peas,” Mr Darlier said.

“I go around down there. The reason I went is because they say Haitians shooting at people. It’s not true. I go around but I don’t see no one.

“It’s like a ghost town. My major concern is how are all those people going to be relocated? Some who have insurance, it’s easy for them to get back, but those who don’t, what is going to happen to them? What is the plan for them?

“I think both governments have to sit together to see what plan they can do just for them, especially for those who have nowhere to go.

Bahamas: Naomi Osaka rescues victims of Hurricane Dorian

Tennis woman Naomi Osaka has decided to help the thousands of victims of Hurricane of victims of Hurricane Dorian that devastate the Bahamas. The Japanese made the announcement on Twitter, without mentioning the details of the donations.

“I donate to the Red Cross to help relief in the Bahamas” tweeted the 21-year-old Grand Slam Champion Double. I invite other interested parties to do the same in order to assst those affected by an increasing number of victims. According to the authorities, more than 76 thousand people are affected in the Abacos Islands where Dorian destroyed 90% of the housing.

More than a week after the Bahamas was hit hard by Hurricane Dorian, which claimed 50 lives, several personalities and great fortunes have responded to the appeals for donations launched by humanitarian and religious organizations all over the world to relieve the victims.

That’s how the NBA legend, Michael Jordan, announced at the beginning of a week a donation of $1 million. The basketball player was followed by singer Lenny Kravitz who also announced donations on social networks.

It must be remembered that the search continues to find missing persons including many Haitians.

At the same time, Haitians continue to complain about the treatment they have been receiving since Dorian. «Since this morning, I have had only one cup of tea» complains Blondel Vincent, a Bahamian of Haitian origin. “I don’t know what to say and what to do. I need help,” he added.

Hurricane Dorian: Trump Administration Reportedly Won’t Extend Temporary Protected Status To Bahamians

WASHINGTON, HAITIAN TIMES – The Trump administration reportedly will not grant temporary protected status to Bahamians impacted by Hurricane Dorian, according to CNN and NBC.

Temporary protected status would allow Bahamians to work and live in the United States until it is safe enough for them to return. As CNN explained: “TPS applies to people who would face extreme hardship if forced to return to homelands devastated by armed conflict or natural disasters, therefore the protections are limited to people already in the United States.”

TPS has been granted after other natural disasters , including for Haitians following the devastating earthquake in 2010.

The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus criticized the administration. “There are thousands of Bahamian families who deserve the full unquestioning and unwavering support of the United States government during this difficult time,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said in a statement, adding This is a matter of life or death and this President is failing to lead.”

The reported development follows days of confusion as top federal officials have offered conflicting statements regarding Bahamians seeking refuge in the U.S. and the documentation they may be required to have.

Bahamas government denies reports it discouraged Dorian aid to shattered Abaco Islands

Ellison Barber

Death toll rises to at least 50 in the Bahamas

Hurricane death toll rises in the Bahamas; Ellison Barber reports.

The Bahamian government has denied allegations that officials are rejecting or stalling aid for the Abaco Islands in a bid to pressure remaining residents to evacuate.

Three sources working with nonprofits told Fox News on Tuesday that Bahamian officials encouraged them to hold off on delivering items like generators and water filtration systems to the Abaco Islands, which were devastated by Hurricane Dorian last week.

A spokesman for the Bahama’s emergency management agency, NEMA, told Fox News the claims are inaccurate.

Island of 50,000 People in the Bahamas Is 70% Under Water

An island in the Bahamas that’s home to 50,000 people is 70% under water after Hurricane Dorian battered it with record force for two days, according to the government.

There are “still many outstanding rescue missions,” on the island of Grand Bahama, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kevin Peter Turnquest said, in reply to written questions. “It’s not looking good as we expect catastrophic damage.”

Seaports and airports in Grand Bahama and the nearby Abaco Islands are flooded or damaged, complicating the task of rescuing people cut off by flood waters.

The National Emergency Management Agency sent out an “urgent plea” for owners of equipment such as flatbeds, jet skis, small boats, trucks and buses to assemble at a shopping mall on Grand Bahama to help with the rescue operation.

The U.S. Coast Guard and British Royal Navy sent ships to assist.

Unprecedented

The storm is now traveling northwest away from the archipelago at nearly 5 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said at 2 p.m. New York time.

It could potentially hit the East Coast of the U.S.

At least five people died in the storm, but National Security Minister Marvin Dames said this figure is likely to rise, and will include some children, according to a report in the Nassau Guardian, a local newspaper.

Humanitarian aid organizations estimate 13,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in the Bahamas, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands between them have about 2,250 of the 17,500 hotel rooms in the Bahamas, Resort Capital Partners, a real estate investment advisory firm that covers the region, said in reply to emailed questions.

The severity of the storm impact on Grand Bahama and Abaco over the last two days may be the greatest ever experienced by any populated area in the Atlantic basin, according to Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger in Tallahassee, Florida.

MICHAEL JORDAN PLEDGES $1M FOR HURRICANE RELIEF IN BAHAMAS

The spokesman admitted the distribution of aid to all of the islands has not been as consistent as people wish. However, he said that was partly due to the fact that most vehicles were destroyed by the storm.

Food and supplies were still flooding into Marsh Harbour Airport in the Abaco Islands, but for the most part, no locals were there to use them.

Fox News was told that rescues in the Abaco Islands are largely completed, as are most evacuations. Military aircraft are now flying supplies to the smaller surrounding cays, where more residents have chosen not to evacuate.

In Marsh Harbour, neighborhoods with names like “Pigeon Pea” and “da Mudd” are empty. All that appears to be left are piles of rubble and the bodies buried underneath them. On a nearby dock, pallets of emergency ready meals sat untouched for most the afternoon. 

Supreme Court allows Trump Administration to enforce toughest restrictions yet on Asylum requests

A lawsuit to stop the new policy is still working its way through the lower court.

By Pete Williams

The U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday gave the Trump administration permission to enforce its toughest restriction yet on asylum seekers at the southern border, even though a lawsuit to stop the new policy is still working its way through the lower courts.

As a result, the government can now refuse to consider a request for asylum from anyone who failed to apply for it in another country after leaving home but before coming here. The order means, for instance, that migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador cannot seek asylum in the U.S. if they didn't first ask for it in Mexico.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying the court acted too quickly and should allow the case to work its way through the normal judicial process.

The administration said the new restriction is needed to respond to "an unprecedented surge" of people who enter the country illegally and seek asylum if they're caught. But officials said only a small fraction of them are eventually found to be qualified. "The rule thus screens out asylum seekers who declined to request protection at their first opportunity," said Solicitor General Noel Francisco. He said it allows immigration officials to concentrate on the asylum seekers who most need protection.

Immigration courts now face a backlog of 436,000 asylum requests. But given how few are actually granted, it's reasonable to ask whether those applicants "genuinely fear persecution or torture, or are simply economic migrants," Francisco said.

After the new policy was announced in July, a federal judge in California blocked its enforcement, ruling that it would violate existing immigration law and was improperly rushed into effect. The Justice Department took the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but also asked the Supreme Court to let the government carry out the restrictions while the case is on appeal.

An earlier move by the Trump administration to restrict asylum remains blocked by the courts. It would have denied the protection to anyone who did not enter the US through a legal port of entry.

Dissenting from Wednesday's order, Justices Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, said the new asylum policy "seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution. Although this Nation has long kept its doors open to refugees—and although the stakes for asylum seekers could not be higher—the Government implemented its rule without first providing the public notice and inviting the public input generally required by law."

Activists break everything in the Haitian Senate to prevent Prime Minister’s policy presentation

Dozens of angry campaigners stormed the meeting room last Wednesday night to discuss the Prime Minister Fritz William Michel’s policy statement even as he and his cabinet members were in the Diplomatic Hall of Parliament.

The incident occurred after a day of high tension in the city center and around the parliament, where there were violent protests. It all started towards the end of the morning when a few dozen protesters, most of them armed, positioned themselves around the Legislative Palace despite an important security device deployed by the Haitian National Police.

Some of these gunmen who pretended to be political activists along with some opposition senators even managed to enter Parliament. By mid-day, the protesters were going to set fire to a bus carrying agents from the intervention and law enforcement agency (Cimo). Attempts by the police and the fire department to extinguish the fire have been in vain.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 24 septembre 2019

 Haitian senator fires gun, wounding news photographer and security agent

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September 23, 2019 10:47 AM

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. By 

A photojournalist with the Associated Press was among two people wounded Monday in Haiti when a Haitian senator fired his gun in the yard of the Haitian senate, according to local reports.

Journalist Dieu Nalio Chery was covering Monday’s 8 a.m. Senate ratification vote for named Haitian Prime Minister Fritz William Michel and his government along with other journalists when several shots were fired.

Sen. Patrice Dumont told Port-au-Prince radio station Vision2000 that the shots were fired by fellow senator Ralph Fethiere. Dumont said it was not intentional and that the shot wounded a journalist and security agent assigned to the parliament.

The Miami Herald confirmed that the photojournalist is Chery, whose work often graces the paper’s pages.

A video being circulated shows individuals following another senator to his car, calling him “thief,” “thief” when suddenly several shots are heard.

Before the shooting incident Sen. President Carl Murat Cantave had complained on another radio program that the scene had turned chaotic. He accused Haiti National Police from preventing individuals he described as “thugs” from accessing the Senate yard. He says they had been invited by opposition senators intent on preventing the ratification vote.

This was Michel’s second attempt at getting confirmed by the Senate after passing the Lower House. He has been shrouded in corruption allegations including selling goats to the government through a company he controlled while working as chief of staff to the finance minister. He has denied he had a conflict of interest.

Appointed Prime Minister not eligible to hold this position, says civil society group

Fritz William Michel was appointed Prime Minister by a presidential decree on July 22, replacing Jean Michel Lapin. The latter had resigned the same day having realized his inability to pass the ratification stage in Parliament particularly because he was part of the resigning government, and in his government there were several former ministers, whom were considered instigators.

The day after his appointment, Michel was identified in a case related a Twitter feed in which he analyzed the socio-political situation of the country in general and made hateful and derogatory remarks towards Haitian journalists, and women among others.

If the explanation of “fake news” that Michel gave seemed to have calmed the situation at first, today the corruption scandals in which Michel he is embroiled has caught the attention of the press once again, as well as that of the collective Together Against Corruption (ECC).

Gasoline distribution resumes in Port-au-Prince

Some gas stations in Port-au-Prince resumed the distribution of petroleum products on Thursday although nothing has changed in stations where motorists and motorcyclists continue jostling for supplies.

The rush in gas stations may prolong the gasoline crisis according to Secretary of State for Communications, Eddy Jackson Alexis as he kept himself from using the word fuel shortage to describe the situation.

Boulos denounces huge loans from parliamentarians

Entrepreneur and politician Réginald Boulos reveals that many senators, MPs and entrepreneurs have taken large loans at ONA. He urges the director of ONA to publish the list of all personalities who have not made any payments on their loan.

Boulos admitted that his company, Safari Motors had signed an agreement with ONA under the administration of Jocelerme Privert. However, he pointed out that several parliamentarians had obtained loans above the 700 million gourdes of his company. He claims to have paid more than $17 million to ONA under the contract.

Information retrieved from the Haitian Times

Feds ask appeals court to reverse TPS ruling so administration can deport Haitians

September 19, 2019 07:25 PM, Updated September 20, 2019 01:21 PM

Immigration activists and community leaders in Miami on June 14, 2019, called for Florida’s Republican Senators to support a comprehensive bill that would allow immigrants with temporary status to apply for U.S. citizenship. By 

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal appeals court to overturn a New York federal judge’s decision earlier this year that blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for tens of thousands of Haitians.

In a 71-page brief filed Thursday on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, DOJ lawyers argue that U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz of the Eastern District of New York erred when he issued a nationwide temporary injunction that prevented Homeland Security from taking steps to force Haitian TPS holders to return to Haiti. .

In his April ruling, Kuntz said 50,000 to 60,000 Haitians and their U.S.-born children would suffer “irreparable harm” if TPS ended and they were forced to return to a country that is unsafe. He also said that Elaine Duke, the secretary of Homeland Security at the time, was politically motivated in her decision.

“Clearly political motivations influenced Secretary Duke’s decision to terminate TPS for Haiti,” Kuntz said. “A TPS termination should not be a political decision made to carry out political motivations. Ultimately, the potential political ramifications should not have factored into the decision to terminate Haiti’s TPS.” 

Government lawyers said Kuntz was wrong on his assessment of Duke, and any influence or input from the White House in her decision “provide no bases for setting aside that decision,” they argue.

“After obtaining extensive discovery, plaintiffs have identified no evidence indicating that Secretary Duke harbored discriminatory animus against “non-white immigrants,” government lawyers told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “On the contrary, the record reflects that the Secretary carefully considered the TPS termination decision after consulting with relevant government stakeholders and fully explained her decision to terminate TPS for Haiti.”

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, which include 10 Haitians, a Haitian newspaper and the Miami-based Family Action Network Movement, argued that Duke’s decision to end TPS for Haitians was arbitrary, discriminatory and rooted in President Donald Trump’s “racially discriminatory attitude toward all brown and black people.” 

Ira Kurzban, who is among several lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case, said “based on what the government has submitted, we have a substantial chance or prevailing in the case. I think the evidence and the law supports the Haitians’ plaintiffs and Kuntz’s position that the government violated the administrative procedure act and the Constitution in terminating TPS.”

The New York lawsuit was the first of five TPS-related lawsuits to go to trial. Prior to Kuntz’s injunction, a federal judge in California in October 2018 granted a temporary injunction blocking the administration from deporting Haitian TPS holders and others as their termination deadlines approached. 

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen granted the temporary injunction as part of a California lawsuit filed by lawyers on behalf of TPS recipients from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Sudan who have U.S.-born children. 

Since the inception of the TPS program, the U.S. has designated 21 countries and the province of Kosovo for TPS. Since 2016, a dozen countries have lost the designation, which is given as a result of war or natural disaster.

Haitians in the Bahamas seek more protection after Hurricane Dorian aid groups, news cameras leave

Maria SacchettiNASSAU, Bahamas —

She fled Haiti after a violent earthquake destroyed her home for the promise of a better life in the Bahamas. 

But Lavita Altima and thousands of others from her country landed in fragile seaside shantytowns on the Abaco Islands. They worked as gardeners, housemaids and cooks in houses, hotels and resorts — until Hurricane Dorian’s ferocious winds and rains swept away their homes.

“I would like for somebody to help me and my baby,” said Altima, 39, as her 2-year-old son, Berkley, played inside a Haitian church in Nassau. “I don’t have any place to go and nobody here.”

Haitians are the largest minority group in this nation of 400,000 people. By some estimates, they make up as much as one-fifth of the population. The country has long relied on their labor — and debated whether and how to grant them citizenship.

Many remain undocumented and vulnerable: Dorian flattened shantytowns such as the Mudd and the Peas on Great Abaco Island, killing dozens and leaving thousands homeless.

In the wake of Dorian, the Bahamian government has suspended deportations of victims from the Abacos and Grand Bahama. Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has declared that all services will be provided to all victims.

“The prime minister himself has stated that there is to be no discrimination against any nationality,” Carl Smith, spokesman for the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency, said at a briefing Thursday. “There is no discrimination.”

But Haitians and their advocates say they have suffered a history of discrimination here and fear they will be targeted for more abuse once the aid groups and news cameras leave. They and the Haitian government are asking for more protection.

“They don’t like Haitians in this country,” said Julie Oliboice, 28, who was born in Haiti but said she is a naturalized citizen of the Bahamas. “They don’t want to help the Haitians.”

The U.S. State Department has noted “widespread” claims of discrimination, including reports of forced labor, allegations of government extortion and warrantless arrests.

Haitians grew from less than 4 percent of the population in 1970 to nearly 12 percent in 2010, according to the government. Some researchers say the number is probably larger. Thousands are estimated to be here illegally, and thousands more are stateless: They were born here but don’t have citizenship. The Bahamas does not grant birthright citizenship to the children of noncitizens.

Some Haitians said they were turned away this week from the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium, one of the largest shelters, but others received meals and airbeds, the Haitian Embassy confirmed. Soldiers at the shelter said it was full. Officials did not allow reporters in.

Laurie Ferguson, a 46-year-old Bahamian, stood outside the shelter this week in a yellow vest. She had volunteered to help.

“I don’t see any form of discrimination,” she said. “If there was discrimination, I wouldn’t be here.”

Dorval Darlier, charge d’affaires at the embassy, said Haitians were being treated well at the shelters. He was compiling lists of hurricane victims in hopes the Bahamian government would grant them amnesty, allowing allow them to stay in the Bahamas to work and to help rebuild.

“I cannot tell them how to govern their country,” he said. “Of course they need Haitians. They need the Haitian labor. The Haitians participate in the construction of this great country.”

The Bahamian government, still in the midst of disaster relief, has not yet responded to the Haitian request.

The debate in the Bahamas has echoes in the United States and other countries where Haitians have sought refuge from poverty, repression and political turmoil.

Advocates for immigrants have urged the Bahamas not to expel Haitians in the wake of Dorian and the United States not to deport Bahamians.

Paul Justin, pastor at Solid Rock Baptist Church, a sea-green chapel in a Nassau neighborhood much like the ones destroyed on Abaco, took donated clothes to Haitians in shelters and at church members’ houses.

At a little white house in Nassau, he found four cousins, all men, who had been sleeping on a church volunteer’s floor. They said they hoped contractors would hire them to help rebuild Abaco. They said work permits were costly and hard to get before the storm, and Haitians are often paid little.

“Even though we have the same color as them, they treat us very differently,” said Rockens Elie, 25, an undocumented laborer who lived on Abaco.

On Fifth Avenue in Nassau, Justin found a family of eight who lived under a mango tree in the Mudd. They were sleeping on a friend’s living room floor.

Sainvernio D’Haiti, 38, a construction worker who has lived in the Bahamas since 1993, recently fell from a two-story roof and cannot work.

His niece, Theresa, 18, is the only family member born in the Bahamas. She speaks English with a Bahamian accent but is considered Haitian.

Theresa D’Haiti said she cannot afford college here. She said she has applied for citizenship but has not heard back.

Justin, the pastor, tried to comfort them. “I know that you’re traumatized,” he said. “Remember you have life. There is hope.”

At the Solid Rock church hall, Thamika Petit-Jean, a 13-year-old girl born in the Bahamas, looked frustrated and bored. Before the storm, she lived with her Haitian mother and 15-year-old twin sisters in Murphy Town. Now they are homeless, and her mother appears lost.

“She doesn’t know what to do,” the girl said.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 3 octobre 2019

 Haiti Gripped by Violent Protests Amid Calls for President’s Ouster

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/28/world/americas/haiti-protests-moise.html

(Site ezilidanto) Mr. Moïse has not been seen publicly since Wednesday morning, when he issued a prerecorded address appealing for calm and offering to form a unity government in the aftermath of several failed attempts to appoint a new prime minister, who would be his fourth nominee in just over two years.

MEXICO CITY — Burned-out cars, makeshift barricades and shuttered businesses signaled a week of unrest in Haiti, where protesters are demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse and more violent protests are feared.

Streets, schools and banks were closed throughout the country, bringing the economy to a standstill. Shortages of oil, power and food abound. The nation’s currency is in free fall, and allegations of corruption linked to Mr. Moïse have brought the nation to a crisis point.

“To me it is obvious: The president, particularly, doesn’t govern anything at all right now,” said Fritz Jean, a former prime minister and past governor of Haiti’s Central Bank. “In fact, we are in a state of vacancy right now.”

The message was roundly rejected by the political opposition and by Haitians on the street, who responded with spontaneous violent protests on Wednesday that culminated in demonstrations around the country. The resulting damage — burned and looted businesses, blockaded streets, cars set ablaze — has left Haitians fearing the worst.

On Saturday, André Michel, a leader of the opposition, called for the country to remain shut down “until the resignation of Jovenel Moïse. No gifts will be given here.”

“Those who are guarding the barricades blocking streets need to remain,” he said during a talk show on Saturday.

The government is without a confirmed prime minister. Inflation is nearly 20 percent, growth is expected to be a paltry 1.5 percent, and the government has not voted on a budget in two years. The Haitian gourde, the nation’s currency, has fallen dramatically in the past five years.

“If he doesn’t leave the country without conditions, we will resort to looting,” a protester, Cadet Jean Donis, said of the president.

The current round of confrontation began with Mr. Moïse’s attempts in July 2018 to end fuel subsidies, a move encouraged by the International Monetary Fund. Though Haiti was in desperate need of cash, its people, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, revolted.

The government canceled the plans hours later, but violent protests persisted, leaving at least seven dead. Fueling the discontent, in no small part, were corruption allegations that have long dogged the nation, most recently alleging misuse of billions in aid that flowed into the country after the 2010 earthquake.

The fuel subsidy crisis precipitated the resignation of Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant in July 2018. Mr. Moïse then named a new prime minister, Jean-Henry Céant, a well-known lawyer and former presidential rival, to form a unity government. Six months later, Mr. Céant was fired.

New problems surfaced months later, when Mr. Moïse was hit directly with corruption allegations after a Haitian court published a wide-ranging report on the nation’s mismanagement of a Venezuelan oil subsidy program.

The report noted that two companies controlled by Mr. Moïse before he took office received the same government contract to build the same road in northwest Haiti.

Though Mr. Moïse has denied the allegations, the report further outraged anti-corruption organizations and his opponents.

A campaign spread widely on social media, calling for transparency and an accounting of how the money was spent. Protests connected to the campaign engulfed the nation in October and November of last year, bringing more violence and death.

Since then, opposition senators have blocked Mr. Moïse’s next two choices for prime minister. The most recent hearing took place on Monday, and ended in chaos when a governing party senator, Jean-Marie Ralph Féthière, pulled out his gun and opened fire in the Parliament yard, wounding a photographer for The Associated Press and a bodyguard.

In the past week, oil tankers have delivered fuel to the country, but the turmoil has made it difficult to resupply distributors.

The cycle of economic and political turmoil has sapped the nation and left it in a state of gridlock. The most recent events, and in particular Friday’s protests, have left Haiti reeling.

“We are telling the people who live in the Cité Soleil area and the Haitian population to rise up to overthrow this government,” Francois Pericat, a protester, told The Associated Press on Friday, referring to a poor and densely populated part of the capital, Port-au-Prince. “President Jovenel Moise is not doing anything for us, just killing us.”

The Americas

Haiti's President Cancels UN Speech

By Sandra Lemaire, Jean Robert Philippe

September 24, 2019 09:24 AM

Matiado Vilme and Renan Toussaint in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report 

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK / PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's President, Jovenel Moise, will not travel to the United States as planned Tuesday (September, 24^th), to speak before the United Nations General Assembly.  The president issued a statement late Monday announcing that Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond would lead Haiti's delegation to the U.N. and speak before the general assembly on behalf of the nation.

The cancellation comes after news of a postponement of his departure for New York, and on the heels of a chaotic, violent day at the Haitian Senate that saw two people wounded when a Senator fired his gun ahead of a vote to confirm the prime minister designate. An AP photojournalist and a parliament security guard were wounded during the incident.

People run as Haiti's Senator Jean Marie Ralph Fethiere holds a gun in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 23, 2019.

Corruption allegations 

President Moise and some members of his government are mired in controversy and corruption allegations.

On Sunday, opposition Senator Youri Latortue accused him of "misappropriating" Haitian passport revenue collected by the Embassy in Washington to finance his trip to the U.N.

"Minister Bocchit withdrew $298,000 US dollars from a government bank account for President Jovenel's trip. He took an additional $60,000 from the New York Consulate account. That's a total of $348,000 U.S. dollars. Plus the Haitian money they withdrew," the senator alleged.

Senator Latortue said that money should have been used instead to help the victims of a mass flood in the southern town of Petit Goave on Saturday, which killed several people including children and damaged homes.

He also alleged that the large sum of money was not needed because the U.N. finances the trips of the leaders of member countries and their hotel stays for U.N. General Assembly.

But Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond refuted the allegation in an exclusive interview with VOA Creole at the United Nations.

"If Senator Latortue felt there were irregularities, he knows there are institutions in place which can deal with such matters. In addition, Senator Latortue was an advisor to a president of the republic, he is well aware of the rules and regulations the chief of state must abide by. So he therefor knows that the Haitian Embassy in Washington is in charge of planning the President's visit to speak at the UNGA. And since he was also adviser to the former prime minister of Haiti - he knows these rules well," Edmond said.

Responding to the assertion that the U.N. finances leaders' trips to speak at the UNGA, the foreign minister said " This is false. There are 193 member nations, each delegation is responsible for the expenses of its members."

Edmond quipped that the senator should verify his information before making such accusations.

Demonstrators chant anti-government slogans during a protest against fuel shortages and to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 20, 2019.

Mass protests 

During mass protests on September 20, where thousands took to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand the president's resignation, several protesters told VOA Creole that President Jovenel Moise shouldn't be making any speeches at the U.N.

"Jovenel will not represent us at the United Nations!" a protester from the Cite Soleil slum of the capital who was in the streets after the shooting incident at the parliament said. "International community, United States, please take him off our hands."

That sentiment has been echoed by members of the oppostion as well.

A group of protesters blocked a road near the national palace Monday with a white box truck, then painted red graffiti saying "Jovenel we're waiting for the keys".

‘This was supposed to be our emergency flight out of here.’ Haiti closes international airport

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SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 01:03 PM, UPDATED 1 HOUR 14 MINUTES AGO

Hundreds of U.S.-bound passengers stranded in Haiti after smoke was smelled inside Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Tuesday. COURTESY OF DARA KAY COHEN

As if things weren’t bad enough in Haiti, where residents woke up Tuesday to find banks, most schools and other businesses closed after a day of tension in Port-au-Prince and other major cities, now international travelers cannot fly out of the country.

Ernst Renaud, the director of operations at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, told the Miami Herald that the airport is closed until 6 a.m. Wednesday after workers were unable to get rid of the smell of smoke due to electrical sparks in the departure lounge.

“We are taking the decision to protect passengers,” Renaud said. He added that domestic flights, which use a different terminal, are not affected.

Asked whether passengers, who had been waiting since 6 a.m. to fly out of Port-au-Prince, had been informed, Renaud said it wasn’t his job but that of the individual airlines to do so. By 12:30 p.m. some still had no done so.

Hundreds of U.S.-bound passengers stranded in Haiti after smoke was smelled inside Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Tuesday. Dara Kay Cohen

Passengers arriving at the airport to take flights out early Tuesday found crime-scene investigators with cameras wearing white coats and blue latex gloves at the airport. As the large crowd formed at the entrance, there was no electricity inside the airport.

“There was every type of police unit you can imagine, and some of them were heavily armed,” said Dara Kay Cohen, a Fort Lauderdale-bound passenger. Cohen, a researcher into gangs and vigilantism at Harvard University, said they didn’t see any firefighters but there were ambulances.

“The only information we’ve been able to find is through our own cell phone,” she said around noon before Cuba-bound passengers were informed in Spanish that the airport was closed.

Cohen, who had spent 10 days in Haiti and wasn’t scheduled to leave until Saturday, said she and a fellow researcher decided to reschedule their departure for Tuesday after crowds marched into Petionville on Monday, throwing rocks, burning cars and setting a business on fire after looting it.

In protest of the deteriorating situation, which occurred after a senator shot two people, including a journalist, in the yard of the Haitian Senate on Monday, a number of private businesses announced their closure for Tuesday and Wednesday. In a press note, the banking association asked all commercial banks to remain closed to protect their employees.

“This was supposed to be our emergency flight out of here,” Cohen said.

A source told the Herald the problem was an electrical fire in the departure lounge area, which workers were attempting to clean up. However, after hours, the smell persisted.

The website for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City showed JetBlue’s 11:06 p.m. flight from JFK to Port-au-Prince was delayed to 6:43 p.m.

Two outbound JetBlue flights, one from JFK and the other from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, were diverted after take off Tuesday morning.

Businesses, Schools Closed as Haiti's Capital Reels from Political Chaos

By Sandra Lemaire, Matiado Vilme

September 24, 2019 02:58 PM

WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE - Businesses and schools were closed Tuesday in Port-au-Prince as Haiti's private sector protests the insecurity and chaos that has overwhelmed the nation.

Meanwhile, AP photojournalist Dieu Nalio Chery is recovering from a bullet wound in his jaw that he sustained when a Haitian ruling party senator fired his gun in the parliament yard. A parliament security guard also sustained a bullet wound in the stomach. He is recovering after being treated at a nearby hospital.

Senator Ralph Fethiere pulled out his gun and fired when opposition supporters began yelling at him and approached him aggressively as he was getting into his vehicle.

Ruling party Senator Ralph Fethiere fires his gun outside parliament in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 23, 2019.

The senator, one of two ruling party lawmakers who were photographed with guns in hand Monday as members of the Senate gathered for a confirmation vote on Prime Minister designate Fritz William Michel, was not arrested. He issued a statement condemning the incident and defended his actions, claiming he was the victim.

"(I) vehemently blame certain ill-intentioned armed individuals who did not hesitate to open the door of (my) vehicle to physically aggress (me). The impact of the bullets on (my) car were duly noted by an officer of justice," the statement said.

In an interview with local radio station, Senate Leader Carl Murat Cantave said he too was hit by supporters of opposition lawmakers at the parliament.

"Violence has no place in Haiti's political process," a spokesperson with the State Department Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs told VOA, "even as we recognize the importance of forming a government to address Haiti's urgent priorities."

Looting, attacks

The condemnation follows a day of looting and attacks after angry protesters took to the streets, reacting to news of the Senate shooting. The Banque de L'Union Haitienne (BUH) in the upscale suburb of Juvena was looted of rice, corn meal and other items stored on its upper level floors, then later set on fire.

Haiti's sports minister-designate told reporters she was carjacked as she left the Karibe hotel, also in Juvena, where Michel and members of his cabinet gathered to await news about the Senate vote. She was unharmed after leaving her car to the assailants and returning to the hotel.

Haiti has struggled to end chaos since March of this year, when Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant was forced to resign in a no-confidence vote.

President Jovenel Moise's current choice for the prime minister position is accused of corruption, prompting attempts by the opposition to block his confirmation vote by vandalizing parliament. While the lower chamber of deputies approved Michel's nomination on Sept. 3, the Senate has tried and failed five times to approve him.

Some observers question if the country's current leaders are fit to lead.

Jovenel Moise, who at first delayed a trip to New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, canceled his visit late Monday. He said Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond would represent Haiti at the UNGA and deliver the speech in his stead.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 8 octobre 2019

 FANM of Miami condemns Bahamas' decision to deport Haitians living in shelters

The Government of the Bahamas recently announced the upcoming removal of undocumented migrants who survived Hurricane Dorian and have been living since September 1 in shelters. This has raised concern in the area of human rights at the international level.

The Bahamas immigration minister, Elsworth Johnson, told Nassau Guardian newspaper that shelters will not be used “to circumvent the law.” He went on to say, “If you’re in a shelter and you’re undocumented and you’re not here in the right way, you’re still subject to deportation and immigration law enforcement.”

Marleine Bastien, executive director of the Miami-based Family Action Network (FANM) in Florida, said it was unacceptable for the Bahamas to deport undocumented immigrants who have recently experienced traumatic experiences.

Category 5 Dorian destroyed thousands of homes on Great Abaco and Grand Bahama and was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Bahamas. The damage, now clearly evident, seems calamitous. At least 53 people have died and more than 1,300 are still missing, FANM recalled in a note.

“It is inhumane to deport these people to Haiti, a country that is going through one of the worst political crises in its history, with serious human rights violations, arbitrary killings and massacres,” Bastien said.

Haitian Americans to Pelosi: Stop U.S. meddling. It’s time for Haiti president to go.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

OCTOBER 03, 2019 08:58 PM

A meeting in Miami between U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of South Florida’s most prominent Haitian Americans ended Thursday with a message for the Democratic leader to take back to Washington: The U.S. needs to stop meddling in Haiti’s internal affairs — and Haiti President Jovenel Moïse needs to go.

“The people of Haiti are saying, ‘My goodness, let us govern ourselves. Let us find our own path... just support us,’” said Gepsie Metellus, the executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, which provides social services to the community. “What do people want to see? They want to see the United States ask, ‘What do you want and how can we help you get it?’ We don’t want the United States or Canada or France or the rest of our friends dictating. We don’t want to be dictated to.”

Activist Carline Paul was more blunt, telling Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, who organized the round-table discussion, that she called contacts in Haiti before coming.

“The people of Haiti say, ‘No interference. No [Temporary Protected Status] deportations after Jan. 20, no more support of President Jovenel Moïse as president of Haiti.”

Wilson, who represents one of the largest congressional districts of Haitian Americans, introduced Pelosi at the Father Gerard Jean-Juste Community Center in North Miami-Dade, saying that when she originally invited her, it was to discuss issues affecting the community. Haiti was not yet the powder keg it has become since protests over a recurring fuel shortage morphed into a fresh round of violent protests demanding the resignation of Moïse, who has been in office for 32 months.

On Thursday, a leading human rights group in the country said at least 17 people have been killed and 187 injured, including journalists, between Sept. 16-30.

Accusing anti-riot police officers of engaging in repressive violence, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights/Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains is calling for an investigation into the misuse of tear gas and incidents of police brutality by the Haiti National Police.

“The police, an apolitical institution, must be able to behave professionally,” the human rights group said, also criticizing the use of masked police officers during the demonstrations.

The human rights report said some of the individuals have turned out to be fake police officers, hired by the government to quell the anti-government demonstrations. Among the exhibits in the report: a photo showing armed men in uniform escorting the new representative of the executive in the North Department, Pierrot Degaul Augustin, during his installation on Monday.

The National Network for the Defense of Human Rights said the recent insurgency by the population can be blamed on public policies put in place by Haiti’s current authorities “who, since their accession to power, flout the democratic gains of the Haitian people and systematically violate their rights.”

“They have never taken seriously the various protest movements in the country since July 2018 by a population plagued by all ills,” the human rights group said.

Haiti protesters ask international community to stop supporting their president

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OCTOBER 04, 2019 06:33 PM, UPDATED OCTOBER 04, 2019 07:27 PM

A massive crowd of anti-government protesters in Haiti cranked up the pressure for President Jovenel Moïse to step down Friday, taking their resignation demands to the United Nation’s peacekeeping headquarters in Port-au-Prince, where they asked the international community to stop support the country’s leader.

On Friday, the massive protests in Port-au-Prince started peacefully but there were violent outbreaks, according to radio reports, when anti-riot officers with the Haiti National Police started firing tear gas.

The effect was so powerful that a nearby hospital sent an SOS alert to journalists, asking police and protesters to respect the perimeter of the hospital. One of its patients, in a coma, could no longer withstand the gas, a doctor said.

Earlier, police found themselves overrun and outsmarted as they tried to block the crowd from reaching the airport. Some demonstrators quickly branched off and traveled on a back road. Carrying placards that read, “Resign Jovenel,” and “America stop funding corruption,” the protesters marched past the Ministry of Health and turned onto Carrefour Rita to arrive in front of the U.N. site. Some of the placards referred to the Core Group, a label for the international community in Haiti.

In the crowd were mothers who complained about not being able to send their children to school; young men who decried the corruption involving public officials, and opposition politicians, including the mayor of Haiti’s largest city.

“We don’t have a choice,” Port-au-Prince Mayor Ralph Youri Chevry said when asked why he was out marching. “We need another system.”

He later tweeted: “Today I’m shutting down the streets along with my fellow Haitians to request the departure of President Jovenel Moïse. I believe in a Haiti where the people deserve more than what the central power offers. I will not stop fighting until a new system emerges under a different leadership that can lead the people well.”

Haiti National Police confirmed eight people were injured by gunshot Friday, including two police officers in the capital and six in Jeremie. Two homes were also set ablaze in Jeremie. In the southern region, where a 70-year-old hospital patient was assaulted earlier this week in Les Cayes, police made two arrests Friday for attempted arson of a gas station and three others for carrying illegal arms.

Unlike in recent protests, which quickly turned violent, demonstrators Friday tried to keep things peaceful. At some points it felt more festive than confrontational.

In Port-de-Paix, as a crowd headed toward the courthouse, protesters changed their mind and turned around to avoid clashing with police. And in Cap-Haitien, where they marched out of the city and back to Vertières, where a monument stands to the last battle of the second war of Haitian independence, some tried to negotiate their way past a police roadblock to get into Carenage, a residential area where the U.N. has an office.

Friday’s protest, one of the largest in recent months, came a day after a group of influential Haitian-American activists met with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a community center in unincorporated North Miami-Dade County. The round-table discussion before a packed room was organized by U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat.

With a message similar to their counterparts in Haiti, the Miami group told Wilson and Pelosi that after years of interference in Haiti, it was time for the U.S. to listen to the people and respect the country’s sovereignty.

“They are calling for accountability from so-called elected officials,” Karen Andre, a lawyer who worked in the Obama administration said. “They are calling for an end to the massacres, the extrajudicial killings that are happening.”

In a letter addressed to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and delivered to the U.N. by a small delegation, opposition leaders blasted Moïse’s leadership, saying “the people do not recognize him anymore as head of state.” They provided an exhaustive list of issues, from a massacre in La Saline last year, in which two government officials were implicated, to a Haitian court’s audit of misuse of Venezuela’s PetroCaribe oil program, which implicated the president.

“We solicit, in your capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations, your disassociation from Jovenel Moïse by giving all of your support to the Haitian people,” the letter said. “He doesn’t rule anything and he has no control over the country. He is incapable.”

Guterres’ office, which has mentioned Haiti twice this week during its daily press briefings, did not say anything about Friday’s protest. But during the noon U.N. briefing, spokesman Stephane Dujarric commented about street demonstrations taking place in several countries around the world. The secretary-general was deeply concerned that some of the protests had led to violence and, in some instances, resulted in the loss of life and serious injuries, Dujarric said.

“The Secretary-General restates that freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected,” Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General reiterates his call to security forces to act at all times with maximum restraint and to respond to any acts of violence in conformity with relevant international human rights standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. He also calls on protesters to demonstrate peacefully and to refrain from violence.”

Performance, Masterclass and Drum Workshop with Linda François and Youry Vixamar

Haiti Cultural Exchange is pleased to present Danse RASIN as part of our Haiti X New York programming. Haiti-based Dancer Linda François and Drummer Youry Vixamar join us in NYC for a day of dance and drumming.

Linda Isabelle François is a Haitian dancer who made her dance debut at the age of three. In 1980, she began dancing with Kettly Durand for two years, then at Lavinia Williams school for three years and later, in 1991, she integrated Artcho, and in 1993, she started her professional career. She learned from great dance professionals: Jeanguy Saintus, Jean René Delsoin, Gerard Florestal, Lena Blou, Bob Powers and Kathryn Sullivan to name a few. She has worked during her many years of professional experience on classical dance techniques, Latin dance, jazz, traditional Haitian, Afro-Cuban, Afro-contemporary, modern, ethnic dance, improvisation and choreographic composition.

She has proven herself as co-artistic director, soloist, choreographer, coach of Ayikodans, teacher at Artcho for over twenty years and has also participated in several commercials. Various audiences from foreign countries, appreciated the choreographies performed by Linda: Europe (Paris, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Upper Normandy), Japan (Tokyo, Nagano, Fukuyama), USA (New York, Ohio, Miami, Boston, Minnesota) , The Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados), Africa (Benin).

Youry Vixamar: Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Youry is passionate about music. He began piano lessons at the age of 10. At 15 years old he learned to play the trumpet. In 2000 he began his musical studies at Haiti's National School of Arts (ENARTS). His career began in 2002 with Sanba Zao in Djakata band. In 2003, he played in the choir of St. Jude (Meyotte), Brothers Posse, Fabienne Denis Ayizan and Tru Rasta . In 2007 he joined Paul Beaubrun's band, Zing Eksperyans. Starting in 2011, he began a solo career in collaboration with DJs such as Gardy Girault, DJ Stuba, DZgot, Jeff Afrozila, Boddhi Satva, Dead Fresh Nunas onstage and more.

Haiti X New York (HXNY) is a program of week-long residencies that brings Haiti-based artists to New York to present their work to and engage with Diaspora and broader NYC audiences. Artists participate in workshops, panel discussions, and culminating presentations. HXNY narrows the physical and cultural distance between Haitians and Haitian-Americans and lends new insights to historical and current concerns of Haitians in and out of the Diaspora. At the same time, the program introduces New York audiences to Haitian artists with whom they may not be familiar.

Danse RASIN

Sat, October 19, 2019 - 12:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway ,N.Y.

12 pm | Doors open

12:30 - 2 pm | Masterclass with Linda François accompanied by live drumming

2:30-3:30pm | Drum workshop with Youry Vixamar

4-5pm | Dance Performance by Linda François featuring Youry Vixamar

5pm-5:30pm | Ann Pale discussion with the artists

What’s New with Naomi Osaka?

Naomi Osaka went through a rather difficult period soon after winning the Australian Open. The Japanese sensation hit the headlines after she sacked her coach Sascha Bajin 2 weeks after her triumph in Melbourne. Later she had a rather depressing run during the clay and grass court seasons to finally fire also her new coach Jermaine Jenkins.

Naomi Osaka coached by her father

The former world no.1 had the sensible idea to “go back to the future” and being coached by her father Leonard Francois and that worked like a charm. The Japanese won the title in Osaka and she looked in top form in Beijing where she defeated Bianca Andreescu after a great 3-setter halting the 17-matches winning streak of the Canadian.

After the match, Naomi commented:

“It meant a lot because I feel like people counted me out after the Europe thing. I’m just like, I still won a slam this year, I won Osaka. I’m still here. But there’s a sort of beauty to be underrated.” Osaka qualified for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen

After her recent win, Naomi Osaka qualified for the 2nd consecutive year for the seasons’ finale. In 2018 she didn’t shine in Singapore where she lost all her matches. This year she looks to be in a much better mental space to have a much better run.

What do Americans know about Haitians?

Sadly, the American politicians and American lobbyists know a lot about the wrongdoings of the “Haitian Sellouts" who are always contacting them for favors and are selling the country sovereignty to keep themselves in power.

Those aforementioned Americans do not know about the Haitian People and its goodness and its endurance to hardship. Also, they do not know about its determination to change the status quo, when facing the impossible.

Nonetheless, nowadays, because of the Diaspora members' involvement in the cultural life of their communities in America, many Americans know about Haiti and its nationalists/citizens. They do know that Haiti helped The United States of America get its freedom during the Savannah independence fight in 1776 against England. They know how Haiti helped many “real leaders” in South America and Central America countries during their fight for liberation and freedom.

We as Haitians have to let the world know that we are not in agreement with the “sellouts.” We are proud to be born in the First Black Independent Republic of the World, a heritage left in 1804 by our ancestors, the former slaves.