The Haitian and caic authorities established, this Sunday, April 5, 2020, an air bridge between Cap-Haitien and Providenciales (Tuks-and-Caicos) in order to repatriate a group of 180 compatriots intercepted earlier this week in the territorial waters of this archipelago British.
According to the regional director of the National Office for Migration (ONM), Kerwing Augustin, these refugees are part of a group of 200 illegal travelers who were intercepted last Monday by the authorities of Turks-and-Caicos.
The returnees were transferred, when they got off the plane, to a place kept secret by the local authorities who fear possible reprisals from the population, after the refusal of several hotels in the city to rent them rooms.
"They're going to be quarantined for 14 days," said Dr. Erntz Robert Jasmin, a departmental director for the North at the Ministry of Public Health.
The regional representation of the National Office for Migration responsible for the care of refugees was not up to this responsibility, due to lack of means, said one concerned.
A few hours after their arrival, most of the returnees left the quarantine areas where no police presence had been noticed.
Many of them were noticed barefoot or bare-chested through the streets of Cap-Haitien.
Until the early evening, a small group of returnees was in the local suburbs, without food, without drinking water, without toilets.
A diplomatic source in Providenciales told the newspaper that several makeshift ships have transported stowaways in recent days in the economic capital of this archipelago highly coveted by Haitians fleeing their native land.
Haitians residing in Turks-and-Caicos are stigmatized and traumatized by harsh criticism from locals and authorities in the archipelago, reports our source.
"They are humiliated and demeaned in front of the mockery and insults of the inhabitants of the archipelago."
According to the information, most of the boats come from the north coast of Haiti, in particular the Borgne and Cap-Haïtien.
Source lenouvelliste
