Bahamas & Turks and Caicos deporting Haitians

CarpeDReam

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Feb 17, 2006
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Not sure if this has been posted and if this is the best place to put it but the NY Times wrote a piece on the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos having similar issues with Haitian migration. I feel very bad about the situation in Haiti and understand 100% their reasons for fleeing legally or not but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad that there were other countries following similar paths as the DR because it doesn't single us out as much and perhaps people around the world would start to realize that this is a major issue and not it's not just that the DR is being unjust/xenophobic, racist, etc. The funny thing is that these countries are not being called racist because they are predominantly black as well so that argument doesn't make as much sense as in DR--they are just being called xenophobic. It's very easy to just call the DR racist when there is so much more to the massive Haitian migration that makes this a sensitive issue. It also bugs me when people assume that because the US laws are: if you are born there, you are a US American--the DR and nearby islands should do the same. The DR is a different country with a different geographic and social reality than the US.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/w...up-as-bahamas-tightens-immigration-rules.html
 

ROLLOUT

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Jan 30, 2012
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And you'd best believe that in the Bahamas, and TCI, they don't play footsies as does the DR.
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CristoRey

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Apr 1, 2014
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Not sure if this has been posted and if this is the best place to put it but the NY Times wrote a piece on the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos having similar issues with Haitian migration. I feel very bad about the situation in Haiti and understand 100% their reasons for fleeing legally or not but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad that there were other countries following similar paths as the DR because it doesn't single us out as much and perhaps people around the world would start to realize that this is a major issue and not it's not just that the DR is being unjust/xenophobic, racist, etc. The funny thing is that these countries are not being called racist because they are predominantly black as well so that argument doesn't make as much sense as in DR--they are just being called xenophobic. It's very easy to just call the DR racist when there is so much more to the massive Haitian migration that makes this a sensitive issue. It also bugs me when people assume that because the US laws are: if you are born there, you are a US American--the DR and nearby islands should do the same. The DR is a different country with a different geographic and social reality than the US.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/w...up-as-bahamas-tightens-immigration-rules.html

Been covered. Same article, different thread.
"Bahamas Rounds Up Haitians"
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31....html?referrer
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
It appears that the DR and the Bahamas share a lot vis a vis the Haitian immigrants (

"Plainly we need the labour. That's why the Haitians are here - because there is a market for them, and they can earn more than they can at home. In fact, there would be no Bahamian agriculture at all if it were not for Haitians. We are willing to employ them illegally and pay them low wages because they are outside the protection of the law. It follows, therefore, that in order to control the migration we have to control both supply and demand, which means regulating employers as well as deporting illegals. But we don't do that."
Bahamian Attitudes Towards the Haitian Migration - Bahama Pundit


As pointed out in that piece, the fear there, as it is here, is that any loosening of immigration regulations will result in a wave of Haitian immigration which would overwhelm the Bahamas.


Yet it is difficult to have a public discussion of the issue when one side responds with death threats.
Juan Bol?var D?az, Huchi Lora, Amelia Deschamps y Cavada denuncian amenaza de muerte - DiarioLibre.com

odd to see journalist and commentators threatened with death and called traitors for their opinions and coverage.

Bolivar, Dossier - Juan Bol?var D?az, wrote a commentary on how ineffective the "plan for the regulariation" had been - how only .002% of those who had filed papers had qualified. Se encamina al fracaso el Plan de Regularizaci?n de Extranjeros: An?lisis de Juan Bol?var D?az - Acento - El m?s ?gil y moderno diario electr?nico de la Rep?blica Dominicana

This is what is being said in various NGOs... that it is a sham, that people are sent back time and time again to get another paper, that every paper must be notaried, at a cost... etc etc.. etc..Haiti - Social : PNRE a plan for regularization or repatriation of Haitians ? - HaitiLibre.com : Haiti news 7/7

It seems a real shame to me since there was such an enormous effort put into this Plan.

Every evening around 7 there is a line up on the sidewalk of Haitian workers in front of the Jaragua hotel. I thought for a minute that they were being deported, but no, they were just waiting for a bus. Now, I wonder how many of them are legal? How many of them have passports with WORK PERMITS????? (These are actually available to Haitians and to NO ONE ELSE).

I could ask the same of the Haitians who were working on the expansion of the PLD HQers.

But it is really for the benefit of those Who Drive the Jaguar to have a lot of cheap labor....

I just wonder why Dominican labor, like Fenetrano, (who supposedly run the country?) do not get on this issue? Guess it does not affect them?
 

jstarebel

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Oct 4, 2013
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I was on Providenciales when this event with Haitian Migrants occurred in 2007. Patrol boat ‘rammed’ escaping Haitians ? Africa Speaks Blog

The aftermath was a sick site to behold and included body parts washing up on Provo off the Caicos Banks.. I personally don't believe that Dominicans treat Haitians as badly as I have seen them treated in TCI or Long Island. Can't speak about the rest of the Bahamas.
 

davetuna

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Jun 19, 2012
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Cabarete, Dominican Republic
the world is a messed up place......I dont know if we ever crossed paths jstarebel, But you will know that the haitians were lucky to get to provo.

most boats only get to west caicos where they are ripped apart by the rocks and the people die, unless they are 'lucky' enough for a patrol boat to rescue them. It has long been a problem, and more efforts are needed to round up the people who organise these boats in the origin country.

we had one time where we were diving in west caicos with guests and you know when you have guests everything is 'awesome' but we had the coastguard come over and warn us about the possibility of more sharks in the are as there were 28 drowned or so about a mile away, just around the point.

I also remember the boat that ran out of fuel and drifted for two weeks. only four survived (i think they were all dominicans on that one). The survivors had to eat the dead.

Meanwhile, our guests were hopeful of more shark sightings..........as I said, it's a messed up world.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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I was on Providenciales when this event with Haitian Migrants occurred in 2007. Patrol boat ‘rammed’ escaping Haitians ? Africa Speaks Blog

The aftermath was a sick site to behold and included body parts washing up on Provo off the Caicos Banks.. I personally don't believe that Dominicans treat Haitians as badly as I have seen them treated in TCI or Long Island. Can't speak about the rest of the Bahamas.
Those countries are very tiny demographically and in every other way. It doesn't takes many people to affect their national identity and in a generation or two to have sufficient weight in the local politics (aka control over the land and resources) due to growth by new arrivals and the ones born from previous arrivals. Recent descendants of any group of foreigners are often more linient towards the people they descend from and in tiny countries that face a serious challenge to their national identities, having those foreigners gain power will inevitably lead towards much more linient policies regarding the country of their origin whether its with trade or with flexibilizing the migration protocols. It would be the end of their societies as they know them.

For anyone not from there their national identity doesn't means much, but its always easier to see it that way when its not your country that is facing a potentially uncertain future.

Its like when disaster strikes. If you are a descendant of Italians and you see in the news that a massive earthquake shook Peru, you might feel bad for them as you watch the news but as soon as you change the channel, that's it and you go back to enjoying your life or worrying about other things. But when the massive earthquake
hits not only Italy, but the region where your family originated, suddenly changing the channel is not enough to give you the 'out of sight, out of mind' effect. In fact, you will change the channel to see what the other news are saying about the matter and you talk to relatives about what happened, you log into the internet to keep an eye on what is happening. You spend the following days constantly reminding yourself to check what is happening, you donate for relief efforts and encourage others to donate too. When you saw the destruction of the Peruvian earthquake your reaction is 'wow, that's bad' and 'oh my God.' When you see the destruction in Italy your reaction is 'OH MY GOD!'

That's simply the way it is.