JG - 30 more Haitians arrive

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

30 more Haitians arrive


Published: Sunday April 11, 2010


Members of the Marine Police yesterday intercepted a boat with 30 Haitians aboard, off the course of Bowden, St Thomas.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"(T)he group includes 14 men, 10 children and six women. These Haitians arrived less than two weeks after the Jamaican Government sent back a group of 62 Haitians, who had landed in east Portland."

S&S - Haitian immigrants' filings for protected status lag projections

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Haitian immigrants' filings for protected status lag projections

By Trenton Daniel and Alfonso Chardy, McClatchy Newspapers

Stars and Stripes online edition, Friday, April 9, 2010

MIAMI — When U.S. officials granted temporary protected status to Haitians in the United States days after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, they expected as many as 200,000 applications. But nearly three months later, federal officials say 42,942 Haitians have filed for TPS.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"On March 16, more than 500 Haitians, including several children, showed up at the Miami field office of USCIS to be fingerprinted and photographed — part of the processing of their applications for TPS.

TPS shields undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation. In the case of Haitian TPS, the protection from deportation will last 18 months, though the benefit is expected to be renewed as TPS has been renewed repeatedly for Central Americans.

Applicants can also request work permits, which immigration officials say they plan to start issuing soon. Immigration advocates say the work permits are critical because they allow Haitian nationals here to wire remittances to family members back in Haiti whose homes were wrecked in the quake."

"The total cost of a TPS application is $470, which includes $50 for the application itself, $340 for a work permit and $80 for "biometrics," the fingerprinting and photographing process."

&

"The main reasons for rejection include not enclosing the correct filing fee, not completing forms, failing to include biographical information and not signing forms."

JO - Dominican court fines nationals charged in Haitian trafficking case

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Dominican court fines nationals charged in Haitian trafficking case


CMC


Friday, April 09, 2010


ROSEAU, Dominica – A magistrate this morning slapped fines totaling EC$30,000 on two Dominican nationals charged with human trafficking while dismissing charges of attempting to leave the island illegally against 10 Haitians.

Read the whole article here.

re: "Pissed!"

Digger at Life After Jerusalem ("The musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer") was pissed. And so was I.

Money quote(s):

"(W)hile we value all American life, and indeed, all human life, we are talking about people who are in a place at the service of the Nation. It is the ultimate sacrifice of service, not an unfortunate tragedy befalling a tourist or a duel national. More Americans besides Victoria DeLong were killed in Haiti, but she died in the service of our country."

&

"What the hell is the New York Times thinking putting a picture of the two dead Americans online?!"

S&S - Rebuilding Haiti’s demolished port is no small task for U.S.

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Rebuilding Haiti’s demolished port is no small task for U.S.


By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Sunday, February 28, 2010


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Rebuilding the piers, cranes, warehouses and other facilities at Port-au-Prince — the seaport that the Haitian capital is named for — will be a key factor in the reconstruction of this earthquake-shattered nation, according to U.S. military personnel working there.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"When U.S. Army and Navy personnel began operations at the port on January 20, they found a facility in ruins."

"Military operations at the port have been overseen by Lt. Col. Ralph Riddle, 45, of Luray, Va., commander of the 832nd Transportation Battalion. Riddle is a member of Joint Task Force Port Opening, which activated as soon as the earthquake struck and arrived in Haiti on two LCUs (landing craft utility ships) a week later.
I
t’s a little-known fact that the Army runs seaport operations worldwide, mostly using commercial contracts, on behalf of the Department of Defense, he said Thursday."

"When the team arrived, there were no landing points among the ruins so the task force discharged equipment onto a nearby beach using the LCUs. The shallow-drafted vessels shuttle out to cargo ships, then pull up to dirt ramps bulldozed out into the surf so that the cargo can roll off, he said."

"In the weeks since the disaster, the port has been a point of entry for humanitarian aid, food, water, rice, beans, oil, MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat), USAID food packages, construction materials and tents, he said.

Six weeks after the disaster, the captain of the USAV Hobkirk, the first LCU to hit the beach was still at the port moving cargo."

"The port still employs its original Haitian workforce driving stackers, forklifts and loaders and the military is working with commercial terminal operators who continue to do business there, Riddle said."

&

"Most of the traffic has been imports although there have also been exports leaving the country, which is a big producer of mangos for overseas markets. For example, the port received a shipment of lumber and the cargo ship Tharinee Naree out of Bangkok was in port on Thursday, delivering an entire power plant that will run on heavy oil or coal and power an industrial park in Port-au-Prince. The car transporter Viking Princess was to arrive Saturday carrying 240 vehicles, Hahne said."

CSM - Why 27 Haiti orphans, adopted by US parents, are stuck in Haiti. The Haiti government, concerned about child trafficking, has stalled adoptions

From my archive of press clippings:

Christian Science Monitor

Why 27 Haiti orphans, adopted by US parents, are stuck in Haiti

The Haiti government, concerned about child trafficking, has stalled adoptions of orphans in the wake of the earthquake.

By Howard LaFranchi Staff writer / January 28, 2010

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

A group of 27 Haitian orphans – with documents in order and the blessings of the US government to travel to their adoptive American families – have been stopped from leaving by the Haitian government.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Marc Bellerive decided Jan. 22 that even children granted “humanitarian parole” by the US government in order to expedite their departure from Haiti’s post-earthquake disaster will have to complete an exit process with the prime minister’s office.

But the new process has yet to be defined. For now, the 27 adoptive families in the US who had thought they would be united with their children are still waiting."

"The Haitian government halted the adoptions even as it faces what is arguably Haiti’s biggest crisis in its history. The government’s decision to slow the adoption process is especially galling to adoption advocates in the US and in Haiti since it comes as millions of Haitian children face such adversities as deteriorating living conditions, exposure to disease, and lost schooling as a result of the quake.

At the same time, the Haitian government faces a chorus of warnings from some domestic and international child advocates who say the aftermath of such disasters is often a time of increased child-trafficking."

"In a statement issued Wednesday by the State Department in Haiti, the US government said it is “seeking to expedite the departure of children approved for humanitarian parole so they may be united with their U.S. adoptive parents.”

But the US was also careful not sound critical of the Haitian government’s decision, saying the US government recognizes that “in the aftermath of a crisis such as the Haiti earthquake, children are especially vulnerable,” and that there is “an increased potential for abuse of, and trafficking in, children.”"

&

"The US says it has approved 500 Haitian orphans for “humanitarian parole,” 200 of whom are already with the American families."

POLITICO - Senators speak out for Haitian orphans

From my archive of press clippings:

Politico

Senators speak out for Haitian orphans

By JAMES HOHMANN 1/27/10 4:41 AM EST

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), eager to capitalize on the goodwill engendered by the month's earthquake, held a news conference with six other senators to push a bill that would create a new office in the State Department that coordinates adoption policy. Photo: AP

A bipartisan group of senators pushed Tuesday for the federal government to ease requirements for Americans to adopt Haitian orphans.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), eager to capitalize on the goodwill engendered by the month’s earthquake, held a news conference with six other senators to push a bill that would create a new office in the State Department that coordinates adoption policy."

_____

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32055.html#ixzz0dqr874nf

ST - Not so fast with Haiti adoptions

From my archive of press clippings:

Seattle Times

Not so fast with Haiti adoptions


Originally published Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Sometimes the impulse to do good can make a problem worse. Relief agencies working in Haiti know that images of distressed children often spur people to pursue an adoption. That is a noble sentiment, but one that needs to be leavened by some serious thought.

Jerry Large
Seattle Times staff columnist


Sometimes the impulse to do good can make a problem worse.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Relief agencies working in Haiti know that images of distressed children often spur people to pursue an adoption. That is a noble sentiment, but one that needs to be leavened by some serious thought."

"Amy Parodi, a World Vision communications specialist, said the agency has two primary concerns.
One is that a child who is separated from her family might be adopted on the assumption that she is an orphan, when she has just been separated from her parents by the disaster. They could be found or there may be aunts, uncles or extended family who would want to take her in once they are located.

The second concern is that, "In the chaos following any disaster, it's easy for children to be exploited." There is almost always a black market in which children are offered for adoption, she said. "We want to make sure these children are protected at every stage."


Adoptions that were already in the works are a different matter, but even with those, speeding up the process risks missing some steps established to protect children."

"(P)eople who are committed to adoption should find a reputable agency and be willing to forgo shortcuts, to be sure the child's interests are served.

Last year, U.S. citizens adopted 330 Haitian children. Between 1998 and 2009, Washington state families adopted 166 children from Haiti, according to the U.S. State Department, which has a site with information on international adoptions:

www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/convention_462.html. "

_____

Jerry Large's column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 206-464-3346 or jlarge@seattletimes.com.

MR -Don't suspend inter-country adoption

From my archive of press clippings:

My Republica


Don't suspend inter-country adoption

PHILIP HOLMES


Inter-country adoption is once again receiving a bad press. First we had the arrest of a group of Americans in Haiti who were allegedly trying to remove children from the country without the permission of the authorities. Then in this past week UNICEF in Nepal has endorsed the findings of the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference that inter-country adoptions from Nepal should once again be suspended. This they state is in response to the Government of Nepal’s failure to fulfill commitments that it gave to reform adoption practice and improve child protection after it signed the Hague Convention in April 2009.

Read the whole article here.

_____


philip.holmes@ebtrust.org.uk
Published on 2010-02-24 01:48:28

JG - The whole nine yards - Jamaican aid workers vow to go all the way

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

The whole nine yards - Jamaican aid workers vow to go all the way


Published: Sunday January 24, 2010


Daraine Luton (from Haiti)


ONE WEEK after arriving in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, Jamaican aid workers have vowed to go the full nine yards to help in the rebuilding of that country.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Major Jaimie Stuart Ogilvie, who is heading the contingent of Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) personnel on the ground in Haiti, told The Sunday Gleaner that they were examining the structure of their delegation to "make sure that we have the right persons here for the long haul to continue the relief as long as we can".

The JDF has been at the centre of Jamaican involvement in the restoration of Haiti following the 7.0 magnitude quake. The Jamaica Fire Brigade, the Ministry of Health and the Jamaica Medical Doctor's Association have also been key contributors to the relief effort."

"The Jamaica Fire Brigade, which participated in search-and-rescue operations, helped in the recovery of seven persons buried under rubble.

Up to yesterday, the Jamaican contingent was delivering relief supplies to some of the hardest-hit areas while continuing to provide security and medical assistance.

The medical team has, even with limited resources, been leaving its mark on Haitian soil with its presence being welcome medicine for an ailing nation."

&

"The Jamaican medical team comprising orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, emergency medical technicians and public-health workers, now operates two of eight hospitals in Port-au-Prince. The JDF also runs a clinic that offers medical treatment."

"(W)hile the Jamaican team carries on its tour of duties, it is being hamstrung by the absence of its own vehicle fleet and a shortage of fuel in the country. Language difference is a hurdle, but there is an abundance of goodwill from volunteers eager to ensure their countrymen get aid."

_____

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

ABC12 - Local man tries to get daughter out of Haiti

From my archive of press clippings:

ABC12

Local man tries to get daughter out of Haiti

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Autumn Perry

FLINT (WJRT) -- (01/24/10) -- A local sheriff's deputy whose daughter was injured in the earthquake says he's running out of time.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Prisnor Pascal found his little girl nearly a week ago, but, but can't get her out of the country.

Pascal is a U.S. citizen. His daughter isn't."

&

"(T)he number-one priority is evacuating U.S. citizens.

When the earthquake hit, 45,000 U.S. citizens were living in Haiti. American officials are still trying to get many of them out of the country.

The second priority for the State Department is Haitian orphans who were being adopted by U.S. Citizens."

JO - 'Jamaican couples want Haitian children too'

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

'Jamaican couples want Haitian children too'

BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, January 24, 2010


AMERICAN couples are apparently not the only ones lining up to adopt Haitian orphans, thousands of whom are without a home following the deadly January 12 earthquake which flattened sections of the country.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Wealthy Jamaicans, many of them unable to have their own children, also seem poised to join that race if a channel should open up to allow them a quick and smooth transition into parenthood."

"Dr William Aiken, consulting urologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, said he is aware of some Jamaican couples who are willing to adopt Haitian orphans if given the opportunity."

"While many will argue that Jamaica has its fair share of orphans to be adopted, Aiken insists that this is easier said than done. He told the Sunday Observer that there is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape which make it a long and tedious process for Jamaican children to be adopted."

&

"Tens of thousands of Haitian children are believed to have been orphaned by the earthquake, according to reports from aid groups on the ground in Haiti. But officials have not yet been able to provide a number. However, even before the deadly magnitude-7.0 earthquake, Haiti -- one of the world's poorest countries -- was awash in orphans, with 380,000 children living in orphanages or group homes, the United Nations Children's Fund reported on its website.
Some of the children, it said, lost their parents in previous disasters, including four tropical storms or hurricanes that killed about 800 people in 2008, deadly storms in 2005 and 2004, and massive floods almost every other year since 2000. Others were abandoned amid the Caribbean nation's long-running political strife, which has led thousands to seek asylum in the US -- without their children -- or by parents who were simply too poor to care for them."

JO - Yes, Bruce!

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Yes, Bruce!

Mervin Stoddart

Friday, March 05, 2010


Dear Editor,


Common sense, tradition and common law suggest that every suspect is innocent until proved guilty and that extensive media ranting often erodes the possibility of a fair trial in criminal cases. Hence, the media campaign being waged by a certain Jamaican media house for the handing over of Christopher "Dudus" Coke to United States authorities in response to an extradition warrant is disgraceful. In the Michael Manley era that same medium promoted reactionary, anti-Jamaican, pro-American sentiments to turn back the democratic socialist agenda of the PNP which gave ordinary Jamaicans emancipation from mental slavery but which was undermined en route to winning economic freedom for all Jamaicans, not just the elites above Liguanea.

You can always count on some solid anti-American sentiment from the Reverand Stoddart.

Liguanea, by the way, is the part of Kingston where the new U.S. Embassy was sited. You can expect that most Jamaican readers, particularly visa holders, will get the reference.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Moreover, the US and its kind from Euro-America are unrepentant slave drivers and colonisers whose dealings and treaties with predominantly black countries are one-sided and skewed in favour of those white supremacist nations, always upholding their interests which clearly include global domination and the spreading of homosexuality, which spell misery and death for countries like Jamaica and Haiti."

&

"It is now time for the US to turn over for trial in Jamaica those criminals, beginning with US government operatives, who are responsible for causing the murders and economic depravity in Jamaica."

_____

Rev Dr Mervin Stoddart
INMerv@hotmail.com

JO - 'No marriages of convenience.' Security minister warns J’cans against illegally tying the knot with Haitians.

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

'No marriages of convenience'


Security minister warns J’cans against illegally tying the knot with Haitians


BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Sunday Observer staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com


Sunday, January 24, 2010


NATIONAL Security minister Senator Dwight Nelson has issued a warning against marriages of convenience between Jamaicans and Haitian nationals.

Read the whole article here.

JG - Stranded - US denied Jamaican nurse passage from Haiti

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Stranded - US denied Jamaican nurse passage from Haiti


Published: Sunday January 24, 2010


Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter


Port-au-Prince, Haiti:


A Jamaican nurse practitioner was yesturday denied passage to the United States when she attempted to leave Haiti.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Melissa Marballie, who has been the holder of a US green card since 2005, was turned back by US immigration when she attempted to return to the States where she has lived since 2000."

&

""I was trying to go back to the States with the group but the United States won't allow me. They say that they have so many American citizens to evacuate and they don't have space for me," Marballie told The Sunday Gleaner.

She said that Haitians with US green cards were also turned back."

S&S - Immigration reprieves can be long lasting

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Immigration reprieves can be long lasting

By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel

Stars and Stripes online edition, Saturday, January 23, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In the winter of 1998, after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America, the Clinton administration offered short-term legal residency to about 150,000 undocumented Nicaraguans and Hondurans already living in the United States.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

""It is a temporary status," Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner told reporters in announcing the decision. "The work authorizations will be issued only for 18 months. It is breathing room."

Today about 83,100 of them are still here, as succeeding administrations granted extension after extension of their right to live and work in the United States. They remain under what is called Temporary Protected Status, the same program offered this week to an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Haitians in the United States at the time of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

About 350,000 foreign nationals already live in the United States under the program, created by Congress in 1990 to offer a haven to people who may not meet the legal definition of refugee."

&

"Those Haitians who do obtain permission to stay will join thousands of people from five countries living in the United States under Temporary Protected Status. Salvadorans account for the largest number, with 266,000 granted residency after a 2001 earthquake.

Others include Hondurans and Nicaraguans allowed to stay after Hurricane Mitch and 950 Somalis and Sudanese granted temporary residency because of their countries' civil wars."

_____
Staff writer Alexia P. Campbell contributed to this report.

S&S - Military working at max capacity to get injured to hospital ship

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Military working at max capacity to get injured to hospital ship

By Megan McCloskey, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Friday, January 22, 2010

Photos by Megan McCloskey

Spc. William Vargo tends to an earthquake victim bound for the USNS Comfort on Thursday. The military planned to evacuate at least 100 people Thursday from the main Port-au-Prince hospital. The effort was expected to last at least two days.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Reyna holds the hand of an earthquake victim bound for the USNS Comfort before boarding a Navy helicopter at the presidential palace Thursday.

Soldiers unload an injured Haitian man from an Army ambulance Thursday to evacuate him to the USNS Comfort.

Soldiers carry an injured Haitian man from the main Port-au-Prince hospital to an Army ambulance, which was taking patients to the presidential palace for a helicopter transport to the USNS Comfort on Thursday.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The Army hasn’t done an evacuation like this since Normandy. The USNS Comfort is operating at a level like never before.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"More than a thousand Haitians most seriously injured in last week’s earthquake are being flown by helicopter to the Navy’s hospital ship for surgery and other desperately needed treatments."

JO - Haiti, I'm really, really sorry!

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer


Haiti, I'm really, really sorry!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The anthem by Trinidad's David Rudder -- Haiti, I'm sorry -- aptly sums up the feeling of the entire human race as befuddled Haiti yesterday experienced yet another major quake.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The embarrassment of losing Haiti to a slave revolt over 200 years ago has haunted the French and remained a dark cloud over that Caribbean country from that moment on. The sordid intervention of the United States in subsequent years ensured that Haiti could never rise but for a few brief moments."

"Importantly, the approach by the United States and France have clearly signalled their own willingness to start over with Haiti. US president, Mr Barack Obama took the lead in offering substantial aid to Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake last week Tuesday."

&

"France, we gather from news reports, has offered to forgive Haiti's debts. This is critical, because it is widely held that the French were the original architects of Haiti's grinding poverty, for demanding a high percentage of its annual budget as reparation for losses suffered during the slave takeover of French-ruled Haiti."

MH - Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

From my archive of press clippings:

Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, 01.21.10


Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

As many as 260 injured Haitian children will be eligible to travel to the United States for life-saving medical care, thanks to a Miami doctor and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

The youngest earthquake victims are being granted humanitarian visas so long as a doctor in Haiti deems that the child will die without advanced medical care. Immigration officials could follow the doctor's advice in issuing the exit visas.

By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

Some 200 injured Haitian children -- the largest group to be given passage to the U.S. without adoptive parents -- will travel to Florida for life-saving medical care, thanks to a Miami doctor and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Read the whole article here.

re: "Quickie: That Fortress Embassy in Haiti Stood Up to Quake's Shaking"

Domani Spero at DiploPundit ("just one obsessive compulsive observer, dipomatic watcher, opinionator and noodle newsmaker.... monitoring the goings on at Foggy Bottom and elsewhere in the worldwide available universe") reports that it's not all bad to have a "fortress embassy."