Caricom should come up with special projects to address Haitian refugee crisis

Dear Editor, Everywhere we look in Guyana these days, we see ‘foreigners’ – just people in search of a better life. Brazilians, Venezuelans and Chinese ‒ none of those of Caribbean origin, and many here illegally; yet there has been no deportation drive as intense as the current one to send Haitians back to the devastation of their homeland in the Caribbean.

These Haitians are Caribbean nationals who have been traumatized by a series of disasters.

In October 2016 a category 4 hurricane, Matthew, struck the southern section of Haiti, the bread basket of the country. Two of the five provinces, Grand-Anse and Sud, were completely destroyed and centuries old trees flattened; villagers now stare at miles and miles of open landscape with scarred trees and grass. This is the residue left by 150 miles per hour winds that totally wiped out farms with crops and 200,000 homes, to displace a million Haitians. The nation’s infrastructure was devastated, and damage is estimated at approximately US$1.9 billion.

This is the background that gives rise to the current condition of the Haitian people who come here seeking refuge.

Since the Caribbean Community was organized “to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy,” is it unreasonable to expect that Caricom leaders (especially the current Chairman, President David Granger in whose nation Guyana, an obvious homegrown Haitian refugee crisis is gestating), would be more vocal and visible in response?

Caricom was established in 1973 with a mandate to co-ordinate economic policies and institute “special projects for the lessdeveloped countries within its jurisdiction”.

It should be noted that Caricom is also an official United Nations Observer; surely the community in collaboration with the UN could come up with imaginative ‘special projects’ to address this Haitian refugee resettlement crisis?

Yours faithfully, Joan Cambridge CEO Julian Mayfield Foundation