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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
TWO hundred and forty-four Haitians who fled to Jamaica during the violence which ousted former President Jean-Bertrand want to remain in the island and applied for refugee status.
The procedure included verification of applicants' identities, an evaluation of their fear of persecution if they return, and determining whether the application was really about political or economic pressures, as opposed to personal safety. After the government announced it would spend $30 million to make the ramshackle Montpelier facility in St James into a camp for the Haitians, some locals criticized the government on the economic burden of the refugees and asked about the existing needs of the community like roads and water. The information minister, Senator Whiteman, explained that 235 Haitians had already returned home while 24 of the 268 who were still here are waiting the appropriate arrangements for their return journey and are expected to leave shortly.
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