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 Protect Haitian Refugees Fleeing Political Upheavals 
Human Rights First urges the U.S. to change its interdiction practices and protect Haitians fleeing their country’s violent political upheaval (03/02/04) Diverse Coalition Urges Bush To Improve U.S. Policies towards Haitian Asylum Seekers (11/03/03) Join Danny Glover and Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. in a TransAfrica Forum to explore U.S. treatment of Haitian asylum seeks (08/08/03) Haitian Asylum Seekers Targeted for Indefinite Detention (4/25/03) Department of Homeland Security Targets Haitian Refugees (3/21/03) INS Announces Expedited Removal for Migrants Arriving By Sea (11/12/03) Post 9-11 regulation intended to target terrorists is invoked against Haitian asylum seekers (11/07/02) Haitian Refugees Targeted by Discriminatory Policies (11/06/02) 
Human Rights First Comments to INS Denounce Expansion of Unfair Deportation and Detention Procedures (12/13/02) Haitian asylum seekers: amicus brief filed in 11th Circuit Court (7/18/02)  Asylum International Refugees |
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Despite escalating political upheaval and violence in Haiti, the Bush Administration has declared that it will continue to return to Haiti any Haitians who are interdicted at sea. On Sunday, February 29, President-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti, and widespread concern about security and safety there continues. In the last week of Feburary alone, 881 Haitian refugees were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and returned to Haiti. On February 28, 336 Haitians were forcibly returned by the U.S. Coast Guard to the dangerous situation in Port-au-Prince. In the end of February 2004, President Bush announced that the U.S. would “turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our shore” from Haiti. Although U.S. officials subsequently clarified that the U.S. would not return those with credible concerns about persecution, the current practice for identifying people who have such a fear is completely inadequate. Under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the United States is prohibited from returning refugees to countries where their lives or freedom are threatened. Current U.S. policy towards those seeking to flee Haiti risks violating this obligation by failing to ensure that those returned are not entitled to protection as refugees. Haitians interdicted at sea are not informed of their right to seek asylum and are not interviewed by any U.S. official to determine whether or not they are in danger of persecution if returned. Human Rights First urges the U.S. to change its interdiction practices towards Haitians and comply with its legal obligations to refrain from returning refugees to persecution. No migrants should be returned to Haiti when the situation there is so dangerous that their safety cannot be assured. The U.S. should not, under any circumstances, return people to Haiti without first ascertaining whether those interdicted have a fear of return. Those who are interdicted should, prior to any return to
Haiti, be individually and privately interviewed, with appropriate translation,
to ensure that they are not refugees who are in danger of persecution
if returned. Each person should be advised that he or she can request
asylum from the United States if they have a fear of return to their home
country. Interdicted Haitians should be brought to safety – outside
of Haiti – if not in the U.S., then in a safe third country or other
place where their safety and humane treatment can be ensured.
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