Malpasse, Haiti, Jun. 23, 2015 --- "To facilitate the process, we
hope that the crossings [deportation points] are at
Malpasse and Ouanaminthe", said Haiti’s Communication
Minister Rothchild François Jr. on Fri., Jun. 19, 2015.
"The Contingency Plan which was being prepared is
ready and functioning," said the government spokesman.
In May 2015, the Defense Ministry announced the
Contingency Plan to receive undocumented Haitians who
were to be deported from the neighboring Dominican
Republic starting in June.
Two receiving locations had been planned to
accommodate the stateless persons from the Dominican
Republic, François said.
The repatriations had in fact already started at
Malpasse. The government was aware of them. "We received
[on Jun. 19] at Malpasse 23 people who are in fact
returnees,” said Ariel Henri, Haiti’s Interior Minister.
Yet at Malpasse, nothing is ready.
Along the border road leading from Jimani to
Croix des Bouquets near Port-au-Prince, there is a large
empty expanse of gravel and sand. On it are two dump
trucks, a backhoe, a steam shovel, a Haitian flag, a
plastic tent, and a mobile toilet. This is where the
deportees are to be received.
At the entrance to the lot, a sign says:
"Republic of Haiti. Ministry of Defense. Corps of
Military Engineering." Below it, alongside the Defense
Ministry logo, it reads in larger letters: "Reception
Center for Returnees."
Some goats, a dog, and a female visitor are
keeping company the three members of the Corps of
Engineers on hand.
Under the soldiers’ shirts, one can see a gray
t-shirt with “Ministry of Defense” printed on it. They
also wear boots and multi-pocket blue pants.
"In the face of duty" is the phrase at the bottom
of the sign behind which the soldiers are stationed. But
what duty is the sign talking about? Is there truly a
Welcome Center?
"There's nothing here,” says a member of the
Corps of Engineers, sitting with another in a
rudimentary temporary plywood shelter in the middle of
this wasteland to escape the hot sun. “We are not ready
yet."
From afar, one might mistakenly think that the
brand new houses of the Haitian Customs nearby were
those built to receive the deportees.
"If they send returnees here, only the President
will know what to do with them," the soldier adds. "We
are just here to watch over the equipment.”
The organizations which defend migrants’ rights
like the Support Group for the Repatriated and Refugees
(GARR) has come to the same conclusion.
"We made many visits and we saw nothing,”
lamented Josué Michel, a GARR communications assistant
reached by telephone. “Nothing serious has been put in
place.”
"Until now, the authorities are only dragging
their feet in figuring out how to receive people," he
complained.
The repatriation of undocumented Haitians and Dominicans
of Haitian descent began with the beginning of the
National Plan for Dominican Regularization on Jun. 17,
2015. |