Governance

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has appointed William O’Neill as an independent expert on human rights in Haiti   He will monitor the human-rights situation in Haiti and provide advice and technical assistance to the Haitian government, national human rights institutions and civil society organisations.  Promoting respect for human rights should be an important aspect of re-establishing security, and one hopes, longer term development in Haiti.  The full article by Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald is linked and follows. 

The United Nations emphasizes that Haiti is in a dire situation and now is not the time to deport Haitians. The majority of deportations take place from the Dominican Republic with neither due process nor advance notice to the Haitian authorities responsible for receiving them. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports 154,333 Haitians were expelled by the Dominican Republic last year - about 87% of all deportations to Haiti in 2022.  It is true that insecurity in Haiti affect the Dominican Republic as well - but conducting mass deportations only makes a bad situation worse - politically, economically, and for human rights. The full article by Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald follows. 

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a brief but stark warning about the threat posed to Haitian children by gang violence, cholera, and malnutrition.  The situation in Haiti is difficult, but especially so for children.  Emboldened gangs, a growing cholera epidemic, and worsening malnutrition are negatively impacting the well-being of Haitian children.  The government is weak, the gangs are in many cases better armed than the police, and core development issues like agriculture, education, infrastructure, and human rights have once again taken a back seat to insecurity.  Restoring security won't solve Haiti's problems but it is at least a prequisite.

Insecurity in Port au Prince and beyond continues to negatively impact the economy, health care, and other basic services throughout the country.  MSF/Doctors Without Borders, which operates in insecure environments around the world, has temporarily shut down a second time.  Due to lack of fuel, clinics are suspending operations - this at a time, when cholera cases are increasing.  The UN is calling for a humanitarian corridor through which both fuel and aid workers can transit safely.  It wouldn't solve the fundamental problems but it would at least reduce the severity fo the current situation.  The full article article by Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald follows. 

The Biden Administration will now allow Haitians who were in the United States as of May 21 ro apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  This will protect Haiitians from being deported which is especially important given the ongoing pandemic, political instability, as well as kidnappings and other forms of violence that come with it.  This also gives Haitians, who are nothing if not hard working, the freedom to work legally so they can contribute to the communities where they live. More information on this welome development from the Miami Herald's Jacqueline Charles follows below. 

Haiti has many surnames including "Poorest Country in the Western Hemisphere", "Republic of 10,000 NGOs, and "at a Crossroads".  For all is beauty and potential, it remains held back by poor governance, political intsability, and crushing poverty.  It's a hard narrative to change when most of the coverage is of flawed elections (or no elections), power struggles, and protests.  If the Haitian government truly wants to change how it is viewed it needs to show that it cares about and invests in its own people.  The Miami Herald Editorial Board recommends starting with COVID vaccination - which has not yet taken place.  It would be a start.  

As of April 2021, Haiti still does not have vaccines to offer its population of over 11 million people.  Political instability, insecurity, and poor governance continue to hinder efforts to procure vaccine and sensitize the public.  Haiti was slated to receive 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but missed a crucial deadline for doing so.  The more the Haitian government is prepared to do in responding to COVID-19, the more the international community can support it.  The full article in the Guardian follows. 

There is a long history of peace-keeping operationa in Haiit - as well as a long history of peace-keepers exploting women and children.  A Haitian court has ordered a former UN peacekeeper from Uruguay to pay child support to a women he impregnated in 2011. This case is a step towards justice for the mother and the child but it could also encourage more court cases nationally and globally.   In Haiti alone, hundreds of children may have been fathered by UN peacekeepers. The full article by New Humanitarian Journalist Paisley Dodds follows. 

Haitian-Canadian filmmaker Michèle Stephenson’s documentary, Stateless, was the centrepiece film of this year’s Toronto Black Film Festival - which, due to COVID-19, was conducted online,  It examines the strained relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the consequences, sometimes violent, for Haitian migrant laborers and Dominicans of Haitian descent who, despite having been born in the Dominican Republic, continue to be denied citizenship due to racism and xenophobia.  A review by Sarah-Tai Black follows - a trailer is posted on The National Film Board of Canada’s Media Library and the documentary itself will follow. 

During their years in power, the Duvaliers led a kleptocracy - stealing from the people to maintain extravagant lifestyles.  They did not do so alone.  Being anti-communist, they were long supported by the United States while Swiss banks hid millions of dollars from the Duvaliers and those close to them.  In 2002, Duvalier funds in Geneva, Vaud and Zurich were frozen.  In 2009, the Federal Office of Justice announced the money would be returned to Haiti although this was overturned the following year.  These funds, which belong to the Haitian people, have yet to be returned.   Doing so is long overdue.