Haitian activists demand halt to deportations as gang violence and poverty soar

Source: SFGate

“Haitian activists on Thursday demanded that other countries temporarily stop deportations to their country due to a surge in gang violence and deepening poverty. Tens of thousands of people have been deported to Haiti in the past month, mostly from the Dominican Republic, whose president recently pledged to deport some 10,000 migrants a week. The Caribbean country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has deported nearly 61,000 migrants to Haiti from Oct. 2 to Nov. 5, according to the latest government figures. In October, the U.S. deported 258 Haitians, while Turks & Caicos, Jamaica and the Bahamas deported a combined total of 231, according to Sam Guillaume, a spokesperson for Haiti’s Support Group for Returnees and Refugees. He noted that many of those deported to Haiti remain homeless. ‘A lot of them can’t make it back home because their neighborhood is controlled by gangs,’ he said. As a result, some deportees are temporarily living along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic in hopes of crossing again.” (11/07/24)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/haitian-activists-demand-halt-to-deportations-as-19897621.php