Freedom Imaginaries requests meeting with gov't about asylum procedures for Haitian migrants

By Racquel Porter   

 

Human rights group Freedom Imaginaries is again requesting an urgent meeting with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Security to discuss due process issues in the procedures for the determination of refugee status and complementary protection in respect of 37 Haitians seeking asylum in Jamaica.

 

In a letter dated August 10, the Freedom Imaginaires reiterated its request for a meeting in light of recent developments in the asylum procedure and to request immediate access to information needed to prepare the cases of the applicants.

 

The founder of Freedom Imaginaries, Malene Alleyn, is requesting that the ministries respond by 3:30 p.m. Friday with a proposed meeting date and the information called for in the letter. 

 

"We're also asking for access to information such as the written statements that the applicants would have produced during the interview process and the actual application forms that were completed by immigration officers, because this information, of course, would be critical to the preparation of the applicants' case in the asylum determination process," Ms Alleyn said. 

 

She explained that the initial screening phase of the asylum procedure - where the applicants are interviewed and immigration officials prepare their application forms for presentation to the committee that will consider the application - is complete. 

 

"The next phase is for the committee to receive the applications and consider the case, which means that the applicants are now closer to a decision that could have significant impacts on their lives. And so at this critical juncture, it's absolutely important that we establish these minimum procedural guarantees before we move any further," she insisted. 

 

The human rights group, in a letter dated August 4, urged the government to pause the process until the group can meet to establish minimum procedural guarantees necessary to ensure the principle of non-refoulement and to protect the constitutional and international law rights of the applicants in the process. 

 

Haitians not treated fairly   

 

Freedom Imaginaries said it disagrees with the government's position that the Haitians are being treated fairly and in keeping with the fundamental rights outlined in Jamaica's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.

 

In a media release on August 8, the Ministry of National Security said it acknowledges that there is some amount of anxiety among interested groups, in anticipation of an outcome from the process.

 

The ministry said the preliminaries are still being completed and it was yet to receive the applications which were completed in view of the attorneys with their own interpreter providing the necessary translation services.

 

But the human rights group said immigration officers completed the screening interview phase of the asylum procedure without remedying the concerns set out in its August 4 letter.

 

The group said it remains deeply concerned that arrangements were not made for child applicants to be interviewed, as this undermines their right to be heard and to have their best interests taken into account as a primary consideration in the decision-making process.

 

It said despite its requests, immigration officers concluded the interview process without establishing a trauma-sensitive, gender and differentiated approach that would have allowed applicants to tell their story as completely as possible.

 

In addition, the human rights group said the applicants and their legal representatives are still being excluded from access to basic information, including the written statements of the applicants and application forms completed by immigration officers.