AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES DEPORTEES WITH INTERIOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001141

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KHLS SMIG PINR HA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES DEPORTEES WITH INTERIOR
MINISTER


1. Summary: The Ambassador called on the Minister of Interior
Paul Antoine Bien-Aime on June 22. They discussed the
Minister's priorities, the deportation and rendition
programs, and ways to further US-Haitian law enforcement and
security collaboration. Bien-Aime stated that internal
security, decentralization, immigration and migration, and
functional democracy were his priorities. He would like to
continue collaborative efforts in these areas, but urged the
Ambassador to delay the current deportee program for one
month to allow the ministries of interior and justice to
review the program. End Summary.


2. Bien-Aime stated that security was at the top of the
agenda for him and the new Preval administration. In light
of security, he raised the question of deportees. Haiti will
accept them back, he said, but the issue of deportees creates
a special challenge for the GoH and that the ministries of
interior and justice need time to prepare to implement the
program. He relied on the often quoted but unsubstantiated
theory that returned deportees come back to Haiti and resume
their "professional criminal lifestyle," which created
internal instability. The Ambassador acknowledged the
minister's concerns but stressed the GoH,s legal
responsibility to accept its citizens. She noted that US law
provided for visa sanctions if a country did not meet its
legal obligations. Bien-Aime understood but asked for a one
month delay before the next flight arrived in order to
improve the re-entry process, concluding that &you have
prisoners, but we have no prisons.8 He repeated that Haiti
would accept the deportees, but the new government needs a
little time to get all involved parties together in order to
avoid the mistakes of last month's deportation flight. The
Ambassador advised the minister that the program had been
suspended before and stressed that she did not want this
issue to become a point of debate in US)Haitian relations.
The government must understand, she stressed, the great
importance the USG attaches to resolving this issue now.
Bien-Aime replied that he understood.


4. Bien-Aime told the Ambassador that his priorities were
internal security, decentralization, immigration and
migration, and functional democracy. He discussed stronger
control along the Haitian-Dominican Republic border,
continued co-operation with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
and the Coast Guard, and economic development of border
communities to reduce migration into the Dominican Republic.


5. The Ambassador agreed that US collaborative efforts
were essential and would continue in the areas of drug
enforcement and migration. She also mentioned the GoH's
cooperation in the past on renditions. She noted that
several individuals accused of kidnapping an American-citizen
had been extradited to the United States. This cooperation
was very important given that almost 30,000 Americans reside
in Haiti.


6. The Ambassador concluding the meeting, stating that the
GoH and the USG had the same objective: to create a stable,
developed Haiti. Both promised to keep the lines of
communication open and noted that their respective staffs
were at the disposal of one another.


7. Biographical Information: Minister Bien-Aime was a
former Minister of Education and believes that his role in
the Ministry of Interior is similar to that in the Ministry
of Education -- teaching Haitians how to be good citizens and
respecting the rights of others. Although not a man of
politics, Bien-Aime became interested in reform politics
while working with the poor during the Duvalier era. He is a
former priest who has been involved in the reform of the
Haitian school system. He worked for the National Institute
for Teaching Techniques under the Minister of National
Education Jospeh Bernard, a key reformer of the Haitian
educational system in the late 1970,s and 1980,s. The
Bernard reform advocated teaching children in Creole, the
native tongue of all Haitians and gradually introducing them
to French (as a foreign language) through a series of special
teaching techniques. Bien-Aime holds a PhD from the
University of Montreal and was a student in France, where he

PORT AU PR 00001141 002 OF 002


studied sociology and psychology. The Minister has traveled
to Miami and Nebraska for religious purposes. He is able to
speak English. His fluency is unknown to the Embassy.
SANDERSON