(GENEVA) A UN committee called on Friday to suspend the forced expulsions of Haitians from regional states, noting that 36,000 of them were deported between January and March as violence ravaged their country. Had given.
The Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), in a statement issued as part of its process aimed at alerting emergency situations, “expresses its deep concern about these mass evictions from Haiti that are inconsistent with security requirements”. without proper assessment” of each individual.
In a statement, the committee, made up of 18 independent experts, calls on states in the region to “suspend the forced withdrawal and adopt measures to protect Haitians on the move”.
The committee noted that figures from the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) show that from January to November 2022, approximately 22,000 Haitians returned to their country, including approximately 15,000 by the United States.
This eviction has increased rapidly this year.
According to the committee, still citing the IOM, some 36,000 people of Haitian origin were deported to their country during the first three months of the year, about 90% of whom were from the Dominican Republic.
The statement also noted that “Caribbean countries, such as the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, have announced crackdowns on undocumented Haitian migrants,” while the United States expedited deportations of Haitians and others to Mexico in January. Permitting plan has been submitted. expatriates.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has requested the deployment of a special international armed force, with mass rapes targeting children, snipers on rooftops … the “terror” unleashed by gangs on Haiti’s population at an alarming rate, according to the UN. is spreading. Specifically to help the island’s police restore order.
UN experts also expressed grave concern that Haitians would be victims of “excessive use of force, brutal, inhumane and degrading treatment on US territory, and racial profiling by some state mandate forces”.
The Committee expresses its concern at the human rights violations suffered by Haitians fleeing their country, particularly in migrant detention centres, and in particular condemns the militarization of borders and the systematic policies of migrant detention.
