THE PLIGHT of Haitian refugees in Jamaica is posing a challenge to the national sense of hospitality particularly to those in distress.
That kind of challenge evoked a positive response earlier this year when a stream of Haitian boat people began landing here. They were fleeing the political turmoil capped by the ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President.
This time the crisis has humanitarian underpinnings in the havoc of the storm floods that have left almost 2,000 dead and a catastrophe of hunger and strife in a decimated nation-state.
It is in that context and against that background that the Jamaican Government has opted to send 281 refugees back home. And even as the announcement was made, another boatload of 20 landed on the shores of Portland after spending five days at sea. They had originally paddled to reach Miami, but rough seas forced them here.
The plight of the 281 who have failed to qualify for refugee status has elicited a mercy plea from Bishop Herro Blair, citing the devastation in their home country. The Bishop has opted to reinforce their appeal for reconsideration in the seven-day period allotted for the purpose.
Judging from the response of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Mr. Gilbert Scott, the Government's decision is based on the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees or the corresponding 1967 protocol. These provisions apparently do not cover conditions caused by the storm floods which have devastated Haiti.
The strict application of the convention is demonstrated in the statement by the Permanent Secretary that the Government knows that none of the applicants applying for refugee status, on the ground of fleeing from political turmoil, had come from Gonaives the most devastated city in Haiti. In effect, the storm havoc is irrelevant in their case.
It seems to us that this hard-nosed decision is difficult to defend in the light of the current state of unrest in Haiti. This long-suffering nation has a long history of political and social distress. The Aristide ouster has been followed by continuing turmoil despite the presence of United Nations peacekeepers. And the CARICOM relationship appears to be in abeyance pending the resolution of the regional challenge to the Aristide ouster.
On top of all this uncertainty, Tropical Storm Jeanne hit a landscape denuded by decades of deforestation and environmental malpractice. The floods and mudslides spread the havoc of hunger, death, and disaster.
With international aid agencies responding to the catastrophe, our own Government has opted to send back the refugees in a classic stroke of mis-timing. We endorse Bishop Blair's plea that the decision should be reconsidered.
