Haitians carry looted cargo from seaport in Port-au-Prince, yesterday.
Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter
SOME JAMAICANS are now worried over the Government's decision to keep accepting Haitians fleeing civil unrest in their country. But Government has vowed that it will not turn away any Haitian from its shores as the crisis escalates.
"Jamaica's position is very clear. We will not be turning back any Haitian coming from Haiti in the manner and form in which they have been coming," said Delano Franklyn, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last week.
Some persons, however, are now nervous with this position as the Haitian crisis erupts in the middle of Jamaica's financial tailspin and the number of Haitians arriving in boats continue to rise.
Last Thursday, 41 more Haitians arrived on the island pushing the number of them arriving in the island within the last two weeks to 103. Two Thursdays ago the second batch of Haitians arrived in Portland aboard a 15-foot boat dubbed 'One Love.' The group included a three-year-old, two pregnant women and several students and policemen. Since the first batch of 10 arrived in the island, the numbers of Haitians arriving on boats have been increasing progressively.
POSITION
"We are not in a position to keep accepting them. We have people living on the streets here and the Government has done nothing to help them. We have our own problems. I don't agree with the decision, would any other country so willingly accept Jamaicans. They should stop accepting them now," said Assana Mills, a waitress.
"Considering our own economic problems, I don't see how we are going to assist, but on a humanitarian level you have to ask the question, where else can they go," said administrator, Royena O-Brien.
"In terms of humanitarian assistance we should help them but how long can we afford to? What if all of Haiti decides to just get up and come (to Jamaica)? What I notice is that when the first set came and they called their relatives in Haiti more of them are coming now," said Lorna Dixon, accounts supervisor.
KEEPER
Accountant Barrington Lewis agrees with the Government, however, about being our brother's keeper. "I think we should keep on accepting them (Haitians). As a region, if we are to keep this Caribbean integration thing going we should look out for our brother. We are in the process of transcending borders with the Caribbean Single Market and Economy and CARICOM so we should help," he said.
As Jamaica continues to press with its humanitarian gesture to the Haitians, Kolude Doherty, regional representative for the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) committed last week to assist Jamaica in helping the Haitians.
Haiti, with an estimated 7.5 million people has been plagued by political violence for most of its history since it became the first black republic in the 1804.
Over three decades of dictatorship followed by military rule ended in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was usurped by a military takeover, but he was able to return to office in 1994 and oversee the installation of a close associate to the presidency in 1996. Aristide won a second term as president in 2000, and took office early in 2001. However, a political crisis stemming from fraudulent legislative elections in 2000 has not yet been resolved.
