Maina wa Njuguna
How is Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader mission to deport up to 10,000 Haitians per week going?
Scores of alleged stories of Haitian refugees being grabbed while asleep by security officers echo widely. A report by the UN migration agency (IOM) have seen an increase in the deportation of women, including those who are pregnant or nursing mothers notwithstanding children and newborn babies.
According to a report by Dominican officials, over 180,000 people had been deported to Haiti within the firat six months of this year —a figure that could exceed 360,000 by year’s end if current trends continue. The report also extensively documents that people are being targeted based on their skin color or perceived Haitian origin.
Meanwhile in Port-AU-Prince, Haiti, the leader of the country’s transitional presidential council, Laurent Saint-Cyr in his recent address to the UN General Assembly was pleading for emergency assistance & intervention to save his country.
Rampant killings, rapes, and mass hunger are the order of the day in an increasing large swaths of the country. He urged urgent, large-scale international action to defend democracy, protect children, and secure Haiti’s right to peace.
“Every day, innocent lives are extinguished. Entire neighborhoods are disappearing.”
Armed conflicts between the gangs, vigilante groups, and the country’s security forces have continued unabated.
“It’s important to say this: Haiti is experiencing war, a war between criminals that want to impose violence as a social order and an armed population that is fighting for human dignity and freedom”, he said.
Just several days ago a deadly drone attack in of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince meteo area reportedly killed at least 11 people, including eight children. The fingers have been pointed at the government, as the country’s use of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in its war on gangs increasingly become the weapons of choice.
Where are the tens, and tens of thousands of deported Haitians refugees, including pregnant women and children going to find solace, and refuge?
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