For many people, the long journey ends where it began: in Haiti. After thousands of migrants had crossed the border in a few days, the US government has started to fly them out again.
Last week, Bruno Lozano, the mayor of the Texas border town of Del Rio, called the US government for help. At the border, the situation had worsened dramatically. More than 14,500 migrants had crossed the Rio Grande in the past few days and set up a temporary camp under a bridge. Most of them come from Haiti, a country that was rocked by political unrest and natural disasters in the summer.
Now the US government has reacted and started deportation flights to bring the refugees back to their homeland. In the next 24 hours, up to 3,000 people are to be relocated, said the head of the US border patrol, Raul Ortiz, on Sunday. In the past few days, around 3,300 migrants have already been redistributed to other places in the region in order to be able to process them more quickly. The border crossing in Del Rio is now closed and is controlled by the police. Ortiz sent a clear message to the people: “They will be deported and sent back to their country of origin, as our law provides.”
Bridge camp terminus
So most of them will soon be back in the place they so desperately tried to escape: Haiti. The desperately poor Caribbean state is in a deep political and humanitarian crisis. In July, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse sparked a power struggle and protests. In mid-August, the country was hit by a major earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people. Around 650,000 people still need emergency humanitarian aid.
Many Haitians had already fled after the devastating earthquake of 2010 in order to make a fresh start in South America. But the economic consequences of the corona pandemic have also hit countries such as Brazil, Chile and Mexico hard and driven many people to flee again. It is not entirely clear why the situation is escalating right now. There was a rumor that people in the area of the 36,000-inhabitant city of Del Rio could cross the border, said Nicole Phillips of the organization “Haitian Bridge Alliance” the broadcaster CNN. It is unclear where this rumor came from, but it has pushed people to the limit.
So did Claire Bazille. The 35-year-old had left Haiti in 2015 and worked as a cleaner in Santiago de Chile, as the “” reports. But when she heard that it would be possible to enter the United States under the Biden administration, she left everything behind and headed north with many other Haitians. On Sunday she was put on a plane and taken back to where it all started for her.
Afraid of the next crisis in Haiti
With the first deportation flights landed, the fear of another crisis in Haiti is growing. The country is unable to take in thousands of homeless returnees, let alone provide them with security and food, said the head of Haiti’s Migration Agency, Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, “”. “I ask for a humanitarian deportation freeze,” said Bonheur Delva. “The situation is very difficult.”
The pictures showed how parents with babies in their arms and small children by the hand got off the US plane. Angry and exhausted, many of the returnees protested around a makeshift transfer tent from the (IOM). Several said they were handcuffed at the wrists, ankles and waist during the flight, said Haitian director for migration and integration Amelie Dormévil.
The White House said it would work with Haitian and other governments to provide assistance and support to returnees. But for Haiti’s migration authority, given the large number of people, specific unanswered questions arise. “Are we going to get all the logistics?” Said Bonheur Delva. “Will we have enough to feed these people?” Haiti’s government plans to pay all newcomers the equivalent of US $ 100 entry fee. Then they are on their own, said the head of the migration authority.
For many returnees like Claire Bazille, the only hope that remains is to start the long journey again. Her family’s home was completely destroyed in the earthquake in August. Her mother and her six siblings now live on the street, as the “” tells her. She herself is now alone with a toddler, a backpack with all belongings and no prospect of work. “I don’t know how to survive,” says Bazille.
Criticism of Biden because of deportations
For US President Joe Biden, too, the situation on the border is becoming tricky. More than 54 Democratic MPs called on the US government on Friday to immediately stop deportation flights to Haiti. to the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Health, they pointed out the continuing instability of the Caribbean state: “The possibility of the Haitian government to take in its citizens safely will take months, if not years.”
Many Republicans, however, accuse Biden of too lax policies on the border with Mexico. “It is unbelievable that our National Guard stands in front of the empty Capitol and not on our southern border, where the number of illegals who come to our country is higher than ever before,” scolded ex-President Donald Trump with a view of one Demonstration under high security by his supporters in Washington.
Since the beginning of the year, more and more people have tried to flee to the USA. In July, the CBP border police reportedly picked up around 213,000 people attempting to enter illegally from Mexico – more than in a good 20 years. In August there were more than 208,000 people, according to the CBP. “Irregular migration poses a significant threat to the health and well-being of border communities and to the lives of migrants themselves,” said the US Department of Homeland Security. The borders are not open, people should not go on the “dangerous journey”.
The majority of migrants are to be deported under the so-called Title 42 rule. The guideline was introduced under Trump due to the corona pandemic and provides for a quick deportation on the grounds of the risk of introducing Covid-19. The rule was extended under Biden. However, human rights organizations accuse the government of using the pandemic only as an excuse to deport people without adequate examination and court hearing. “This government made a big splash when it said it wanted a humane asylum system,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the civil rights group ACLU, who “” said. The government does not recognize that people have no choice but to flee.
Sources: “”, with DPA
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