Freedom Imaginaries urges Jamaican Government not to deport Haitians
Posted on by petchary
Last November, the UN Refugee Agency made an urgent call for countries not to forcibly return Haitians fleeing their country, because of the “devastating humanitarian and security crisis” there. The UN Human Rights Commissioner urged nations to “stand in solidarity with Haiti” and not to return Haitians “to a country that is extremely fragile.”
In their November announcement, the UNHCR “reminds States that Haitians who wish to seek international protection should have access to fair and efficient asylum procedures.” While the Jamaican Government asserted that the Haitians had not requested asylum, now they have done so through their attorney. This begs the question: did they not have the services of an attorney before, when they were charged, brought before the court, fined and ordered deported?
Meanwhile, international human rights lawyer and founder of Freedom Imaginaries, Malene Alleyne, has written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Dr. Horace Chang, Minister of National Security; and the Passport, Immigration & Citizenship Agency of Jamaica (PICA), urging them “to refrain from deporting the Haitians and to work with us to provide them with information on their rights and assess their protection needs in line with international refugee and human rights law.”
Below is the text of the letter sent via email, which I have been given permission to reproduce here. I had to look up the word “refoulement”; it means “the act of forcing a refugee or asylum seeker to return to a country or territory where he or she is likely to face persecution.”
Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, 2 Port Royal Street, Kingston
Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, CD, MP, Minister of National Security, Ministry of National Security, North Tower, 2 Oxford Road, Kingston 5
Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency 25 C Constant Spring Road,
Kingston 10
URGENT LEGAL MATTER VIA EMAIL
July 20, 2023
Dear Sirs/Mesdames:
Re: Urgent Request to Stop the Deportation of Haitian Nationals to Haiti
We write to express concern about the situation of a group of Haitians who recently arrived in Jamaica and now face deportation to Haiti after being charged with illegal entry. Given the devastating humanitarian and security crisis in Haiti, and the State’s obligations under international refugee and human rights law, we urge the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) to refrain from deporting the Haitians and to take the necessary measures to ensure that they have access to protection and support services.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned that “conditions in Haiti continue to be dire, and not conducive to forced returns.”1 As explained by the UN Human Rights Office, the systematic violations of rights and unremitting armed violence in Haiti have precipitated the country’s descent into its “worst human rights and humanitarian situation in decades.”2 The UNHCR has therefore called upon States in the region to “suspend the forced return of Haitians to their country,” warning that Haitians who are returned to Haiti may face “life-threatening security and health risks, and further displacement inside the country.”3 The UNHCR has provided the following guidance that is particularly relevant in this case:4
In view of the current dire situation, we encourage governments to ensure that Haitians have access to protection and support services regardless of their reasons for leaving their country. For those not eligible for refugee protection, this may be achieved through granting of complementary protection, temporary protection, humanitarian admission or other legal stay arrangements until the security situation in Haiti permits safe returns.
Most recently, in April 2023, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a statement under its early warning and urgent action procedure, expressing concern about the collective expulsions of Haitians without a proper assessment of the protection needs of each individual case and calling on States to suspend forced returns and adopt measures to protect Haitians on the move.5 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for its part, has issued a resolution that calls upon members of the Organization of American States to ensure Haitians have access to “efficient procedures that guarantee an individualized evaluation of the differentiated protection needs for asylum seekers, refugees,” and other groups.6
In this context, we recall that according to Jamaica’s international obligations under various international treaties—among them the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—the obligation to guarantee the principle of non-refoulement applies to all foreigners and all forms of forced returns, including deportation. The forced removal of people to a place where they may face risk of persecution, torture or other serious or irreparable harm would amount to refoulement, which is explicitly prohibited under international refugee and human rights law. The principle of non‐ refoulement entails a requirement to grant individuals seeking international protection access to efficient asylum procedures. This principle has acquired the status of jus cogens, that is, a peremptory norm of international law from which no derogation is permitted.
In light of the foregoing, we urge the GOJ to refrain from deporting the Haitians and to work with us to provide them with information on their rights and assess their protection needs in line with international refugee and human rights law. Given the urgency of the situation, we ask that you respond to this letter by 2:30 p.m. on Friday, July 21, 2023 to the address [email protected].
Sincerely,
Malene C. Alleyne
International Human Rights Lawyer and Founder Freedom Imaginaries
Cc: Marcus Goffe, Attorney-at-Law, Goffe Law
5 UN Office of the High Commissioner, “Stop deporting Haitians on the move in Americas, UN Committee warns,” April 28, 2023.
6 IACHR, “Protection of Haitians in human mobility: Inter-American solidarity,” Resolution 02/2021, October 24, 2021.
