Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition (HAGC) Symposium To Put Spotlight On Haitian Migration in 2010
MIAMI – The problematic of Haitan Migration is a topic of interest for several countries in the Western Hemisphere such as the United States, the Dominican Republic, the Republic of the Bahamas, and at a lesser extent some of the lesser nation-states in the Caribbean Basin.
Last year, in the context of the Organization of American States (OAS) XXXVIII General Assembly meeting in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, HAGC submitted and proposed a draft resolution to the (OAS) Permanent Council to urge member states impacted by chronic Haitian Migration to open a dialog and seek possible resolutions on the matter. The regional organization instead opted to spend its energy on Cuba alone and ignore the Haiti Problematic.
Western media outlets, for the past four decades, have tagged Haitians fleeing their homeland as economic refugees and placed little attention on the sporadic political turmoils that have engulfed Haiti since its creation by Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines. For many of its inhabitants, Haiti is like a house on fire that must be vacated at all cost. Mass migration is certainly not the panacea capable of healing Haiti’s ailments. Structural changes are imperative and necessary to take Haiti from its precipice. Money alone is highly likely not to be the answer in transforming the country in ways that the governed must feel and experienced that they are participants in the public policy process.
For many years, incidence of Haitian Refugees/Migrants Tragedy at sea has become common place. This year alone, two majors incidents occurred, in May over 20 Haitians were reported missing and lost at sea about 12 miles West off the Coast of Boynton Beach, Florida. A few months later in August 2009, another Haitian tragedy unfolded within the Waters of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Possession in the Caribbean, said Jean-Robert Lafortune, President of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition.
On Saturday, January 2 Haitian-American Community Leaders, and elected officials convened in a symposium on Haitian Migration, marking the 206 Anniversary of Haiti’s Independence to discuss possible strategies aimed at reducing and preventing the incidence of Haitian Tragedy at Sea. This symposium is an attempt to get the community to really engage in short term and long term solutions regarding the consequences of uncontrolled migration which can contribute overtime to regional destabilization in countries of the region, said Lafortune.
Ultimately HAGC’s plan will require the buy-in and close collaboration of the Haitian Authorities, the United States Government, and to a lesser extent, the Governments of the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
