Gov't accused of violating international law by repatriating Haitian caregivers

By Prince Moore    

 

Human rights advocate Malene Alleyne is accusing the government of violating international law in its latest move to repatriate Haitian caregivers to their country without due process.

 

The Haitians were returned at midnight on Tuesday.

 

National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang says he made the right decision in sending home 12 of the 16 Haitians who came to Jamaica as caregivers for 59 physically disabled orphans.

 

The orphans came to Jamaica in March as part of a humanitarian effort that was overseen by Mustard Seed Communities.

 

Ms. Alleyne is contending that the government continues to act in contravention of international law in its dealing with the Haitians. 

 

"This is an admiminstration that detains a 10-month-old baby and children in lock-up in deplorable conditions, and so they do not have the standing to say what is constitutional and what is not constitutional because there is clearly a misunderstanding as to what it means to be in a democracy that is governed by the rule of law," contended the human rights advocate and founder of Freedom Imaginaries. 

 

"I am not saying that the government should not carry out its security protocols, but these Haitian caregivers were removed from Mustard Seed by police officers who took them into custody without telling them where they were being taken and what would happen to them, and when I tried to find out that information, my requests were refused. And so, how could that be lawful? And if it is that the minister is saying that that action is lawful, then we have a much deeper problem than a Haitian refugee crisis; what we have is a rule of law crisis." 

 

Ms. Alleyne was speaking Thursday on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines.