By Gareth Davis, Gleaner Writer 
Whiteman
PORTLAND:
UNLESS THE Haitian refugees can give a compelling reason why they should be allowed to stay here, the government will not hesitate to send them home, Information Minister Burchell Whiteman has said.
His comments came amid concerns that the country is ill-equipped to deal with the heavy influx of Haitian refugees coming into the island.
Mr. Whiteman told a post-Cabinet press briefing on Monday that a Cabinet submission, taking note of the increase in Haitian arrivals, had been approved.
"We will follow proper procedures, but we are resolved to move more expeditiously to ensure that what has started now does not become a flood from which we cannot retreat," Senator Whiteman said.
The government will be honouring its international obligations in at least temporarily housing the Haitian refugees, but steps are being taken to protect Jamaica's interest, he said.
THE APPEALS PROCESS
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade source added that the appeals process that Haitians were using to fight the denial of their applications for refugee status would be speeded up.
Within three months of the the overthrow of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide a total of 511 Haitians fled their country for Jamaica last year. Some voluntarily returned home, but others sought refugee status so they could remain in the island.
The refugee status applications were all refused by the Government of Jamaica through the decision of the minister of
foreign affairs, acting on the recommendations of an Eligibility Committee. Now housed at Montpelier in St. James, most
of these applicants have appealed the
government's decision.
International refugee conventions place an obligation on a state not to expel or return refugees to territories where their lives or freedom would be threatened.
FINAL DETERMINATION
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said last October that the approximately 281 Haitian refugees had applied for a review by the Eligibility Committee. He said Cabinet would make a final determination on the status of the Haitians after the tribunal has heard all appeals and made its recommendation.
"What is happening now, one year after the crisis, will not be treated quite the same way as we dealt with it then," the information minister told journalists during the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Over time, the number of Haitians arriving in the island fell. But, just three weeks ago, large numbers of Haitians began arriving in the country again.
The new arrivals are being housed at the Winnifred Rest Home in Fairy Hill, Portland.
Paul Saunders, national coordinator for the Refugees Management Unit in the Ministry of National Security, told The Gleaner yesterday that security is to be tightened at the shelter following the disappearance and subsequent reappearance of 15 of the Haitians.
The 173 Haitians at the Winnifred shelter are expected to be transferred to Montpelier, as soon as possible, Mr. Saunders said.
