HAITIAN OFFICIALS WARN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001141

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN OFFICIALS WARN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 867


1. Summary. A Haitian migration official and prosecutor
denounced persons who undertake and organize migrant voyages
during a June 15 conference on clandestine sea migration held
on the Ile de la Tortue. Though the message coming from
Haitian officials on illegal migration, delivered with
accompanying graphic photos of shark-bitten corpses, is a
welcome step in changing permissive attitudes toward alien
smugglers, illegal migrants, who are already in desperate
straits, are just as likely to ignore the authorities'
threats against them. End summary.


2. Jeanne Bernard Pierre, the chief administrator for the
Office of National Migration and Michenet Balthazar, the
government prosecutor for the northern port city of
Port-de-Paix, participated in the conference organized by
parliamentary Deputy Marc Antoine Francois and attended by
Poloff. Displaying the graphic photos of shark-bitten
corpses of Haitian migrants from a capsized boat off the
coast of Turks and Caicos (reftel),Pierre denounced the
organizers of the clandestine voyages as criminals, pointing
out that they took the desperate migrants' money, knowing
that the overwhelming majority of migrants will not reach
their destinations, and if they do, are ultimately
repatriated. She also denounced the cottage industry that
has sprung up to serve the illegal migrants and emphasized
that the difficulty of obtaining a U.S. visa was no excuse
for embarking on clandestine voyages.


3. Balthazar noted that he understood that many residents on
the poverty stricken island wanted to leave. Nevertheless,
they need to respect and fulfill the legal conditions for
their departure. He bluntly stated, ''If you try to go
illegally, you will be arrested and you will go to prison for
a long time.'' He repeated that the same would hold true for
the organizers of the clandestine voyages.


4. Senator Evaliere Beauplan of the Northwest Department,
also attending the conference, claimed that the GoH and the
USG had to accept that the GoH's lack of a comprehensive
development plan for the Northwest Department and the USG's
visa requirements were the driving forces contributing to the
clandestine voyages.


5. Comment. Pierre's and Balthazar's comments prompted
vehement responses in the Q&A sessions from participants who
agreed with the senator's position that people mired in
poverty are justified in trying to escape their
circumstances. Balthazar's failure to draw little
distinction between alien smugglers and their victims
certainly exacerbated the audience's negative response. The
government's limited capacity to prosecute and jail anyone
''for a long time,'' also certainly undercut his tough talk.
Nevertheless the conference, which received national media
attention, was a welcome first step from Haitian officials in
condemning the predatory practices of alien smugglers and
highlighting the dangers in emigrating by sea.
SANDERSON