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U.S. preparing to nearly double deportations to Haiti
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/21/haiti-deportee-crisis/PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United States is preparing to nearly double the number of Haitians being deported to this Caribbean state from Texas starting Wednesday, raising alarm that thousands of cash-strapped migrants will add a new dimension to the humanitarian crisis in a country torn apart by violence, natural disaster and political strife.
The Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation is already dealing with a convergence of crises — including the aftermath of a presidential assassination, a deadly earthquake, worsening food insecurity and rising social anarchy amid a grab for territory by gang warlords. So limited are resources to aid returning deportees — some of whom are coming back to their country for the first time in years — that they are essentially leaving the airport with little more than a hot meal, basic hygiene kits, a medical assessment and a small cash handout, setting out without the promise of transportation or shelter into a capital reeling from a wave of kidnappings and killings.
On Sunday and Monday, several hundred migrants per day arrived on up to three flights to Port-au-Prince, with four flights scheduled for Tuesday. But international agencies have been told that the United States will begin ramping up to “six to seven” flights daily, to Port-au-Prince as well as Haiti’s second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien, starting Wednesday.
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“We’re talking about potentially up to 1,000 people per day,” said Giuseppe Loprete, Haiti mission chief for the International Organization for Migration. “This is our understanding. This is our challenge.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the department could not confirm the flight plans, citing operational and security factors. However, one U.S. official confirmed that the flights would increase to six or seven per day, split between the two Haitian cities. The official was not authorized to discuss the plan and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation is already dealing with a convergence of crises — including the aftermath of a presidential assassination, a deadly earthquake, worsening food insecurity and rising social anarchy amid a grab for territory by gang warlords. So limited are resources to aid returning deportees — some of whom are coming back to their country for the first time in years — that they are essentially leaving the airport with little more than a hot meal, basic hygiene kits, a medical assessment and a small cash handout, setting out without the promise of transportation or shelter into a capital reeling from a wave of kidnappings and killings.
On Sunday and Monday, several hundred migrants per day arrived on up to three flights to Port-au-Prince, with four flights scheduled for Tuesday. But international agencies have been told that the United States will begin ramping up to “six to seven” flights daily, to Port-au-Prince as well as Haiti’s second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien, starting Wednesday.
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“We’re talking about potentially up to 1,000 people per day,” said Giuseppe Loprete, Haiti mission chief for the International Organization for Migration. “This is our understanding. This is our challenge.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the department could not confirm the flight plans, citing operational and security factors. However, one U.S. official confirmed that the flights would increase to six or seven per day, split between the two Haitian cities. The official was not authorized to discuss the plan and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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If you look up 'failed state', Haiti will figure prominently.
Haiti Protests Mass U.S. Deportation of Migrants to Country in Crisis
Haiti migration officials have asked the United States for a “humanitarian moratorium” even as they receive the first returnees from Texas. “Will we have enough to feed these people?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/19/world/americas/us-haitian-deportation.html
