Posts Tagged ‘Haiti’

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United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie in Haiti

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Hollywood actress and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is in Haiti where she met with survivors of last month’s devastating earthquake as well as some of the local and international aid workers assisting in the relief effort.

Ms. Jolie arrived yesterday in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which bore the brunt of the 7.0 magnitude quake that struck the small Caribbean nation on 12 January.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie outside UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince. (UN photo by Sophia Paris)


The quake killed up to 200,000 people and left 2 million in need of assistance, in addition to causing widespread damage and destruction to vital infrastructure in Haiti, already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

“It will take years to rebuild Haiti,” Ms. Jolie, a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said after seeing the devastation for herself.

“Every day, the UN, governments, NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and local organizations are providing more people with protection, food, water, shelter and health care, yet the needs are still enormous and the displacement could last a decade,” she stated.
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TAKE ACTION: Time is now for TPS for Haiti

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Immigrations & Customs Enforcement earlier today announced they were suspending deportations of Haitians in the United States:

STATEMENT BY DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY MATT CHANDLER:
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton today halted all removals to Haiti for the time being in response to the devastation caused by yesterday’s earthquake. ICE continues to closely monitor the situation.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA believes the U.S. should grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S., and we urge you to take action today to urge the White House and Congress to grant TPS to Haitian nationals in the United States, allowing the Haitian government the time it needs to invest its limited resources into rebuilding the country and offering emergency relief to its suffering citizens following a devastating earthquake which rocked the nation on the afternoon of January 12, 2010.
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Pope prays for people of Haiti

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

At the end of today’s general audience Pope Benedict XVI launched an appeal “for the dramatic situation currently being experienced in Haiti.”

“My thoughts go in particular to the population hit just a few hours ago by a devastating earthquake which has caused serious loss of human life, large numbers of homeless and missing people, and vast material damage.

“I invite everyone to join my prayers to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who mourn their loss. I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to everyone who, in various ways, has been affected by this terrible calamity, imploring God to bring them consolation and relief in their suffering.

“I appeal to the generosity of all people so that these our brothers and sisters who are experiencing a moment of need and suffering may not lack our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community. The Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population.”

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UN calls for international support in wake of devastating Haiti quake

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today issued an urgent call to the international community to assist Haiti following yesterday’s catastrophic earthquake that has devastated the impoverished Caribbean nation’s capital.

Buildings and infrastructure in Port-au-Prince suffered extensive damage, while basic services, including water and electricity are near the brink of collapse. The full extent of casualties, which could number in the hundreds, is still unknown, Mr. Ban told reporters in New York.

“There is no doubt that we are facing a major humanitarian emergency and that a major relief effort will be required,” he said.

Expressing gratitude to nations rushing aid to the earthquake’s victims, he called for the world to “come to Haiti’s aid in this hour of need.”
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Statement on Haiti from Jesuit Refugee Service

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Jesuit Refugee Service – Latin America & Caribbean Region shares with the people of the area the great pain wrought by successive natural disasters that have struck our sister country of Haiti.

We raise our prayers and encourage the commitment to solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti, guided by the example of the Good Samaritan of the Gospel.

Aid to Haiti will be coordinated through the JRS Dominican Republic office, which is under the direction of Fr. Mario Serrano, S.J.

Additionally, the centers of the Society of Jesus in the Dominican Rep. (Santo Domingo: Centro Bono and Alberto Hurtado; Santiago: Centro Bellarmine and Cephas Dajabón: Border Solidarity) have established a support network to aid earthquake victims in Haiti.

– Fr. Alfredo Infante, S.J., Regional Director of JRS – LAC.

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Haitians in Dominican Republic face violence, abuse

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Catholic San Francisco Assistant Editor Rick DelVecchio and two other Catholic journalists recently spent eight days in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to report on migrants and refugees, whose vulnerability as they cross national borders in search of a better life is a growing humanitarian concern.

“Whatever happens in the Dominican Republic, they blame a Haitian,” said Saint Marc, 66. “Somebody died, they blame a Haitian. They rob a house, they blame Haitians. You might be lying on your bed and next thing they come and get you because they accuse you of a crime.”

Nearly all Haitians in the Dominican Republic are undocumented, and their status primes them for victimization. They get little help from their own government.

“Haitian authorities do little or nothing to help their citizens regularize their status in their host countries,” Jesuit Refugee Service said in a statement after a conference in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince Oct. 25. This further marginalizes Haitians and puts them at risk of human rights violations and deportation, the group said.

Read the full story here.

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Hastings amendment studies immigration policies aimed at Haiti

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) voted in favor of H.R. 3619, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2009. Included in the Act was an amendment introduced by Hastings that directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to conduct a study examining the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to the effects of possible changes in U.S. immigration policies toward Haiti. (Click here for a PDF copy of the amendment.)

“Changes in immigration policies affecting Haiti are nothing new.” Hastings said. “In fact, it was just over ten years ago that Congress passed the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which affected far more Haitian nationals than any of the currently proposed policies would affect.

“TPS, or some other comparable relief, for our Haitian neighbors is long overdue, and this administration has been stalling for far too long. This study will hopefully help us show that our government has rationally and realistically examined all possible results and that we are well equipped to contend with any possible effects.”
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Activists for Haiti press Obama on immigration plans

Monday, October 26th, 2009

The Miami Herald reports on the growing unease among Haitian activists over their perception President Obama is not moving fast enough on either immigration reform or Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants.

“I feel they are stringing us along, and we are in an awkward position,” said Randolph McGrorty, head of Catholic Charities Legal Services, who brought the subject to a head with a stinging e-mail sent to House, Senate and administration staffers last week. “Do we allow them to string us along because they are our allies or do we start calling them on the carpet for it?”

Presidential candidate Obama did not promise to grant undocumented Haitian immigrants temporary legal status in the United States — a designation known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS — but activists said they believed the first African-American president would give the issue special consideration.

Instead, former President Bill Clinton — a United Nations special envoy to the country — and the United Nations have taken the lead in rebuilding a storm-battered Haiti after last year’s four back-to-back storms that killed hundreds and left nearly $1 billion in damages.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has long supported TPS for Haitians.

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Congresswoman urges targeted, effective aid to Haiti

Friday, October 16th, 2009

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, delivered a speech yesterday outlining a continued commitment by the U.S. to support security, prosperity and democracy in Haiti. Watch the video here. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

It seems as if the stars are finally aligning for Haiti to reach its true potential. The UN’s appointment of President Bill Clinton as its Special Envoy to Haiti, and Dr. Paul Farmer as his Deputy, will no doubt help bring great advancements to this island nation. U.S. and multilateral efforts must be better coordinated. Also, assistance programs must be targeted to help Haiti achieve its own plans and goals. Better engagement with the Haitian Diaspora and effective sustainability plans must be the focus of future U.S. assistance.

It is also critical that Haitians living in the U.S. are immediately granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This is the missing piece in current U.S. policy which would successfully help Haitians in the short and long term.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has long supported TPS for Haitians. Learn more here.

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Malaria targeted at Haiti, Dominican Republic crossroads

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Jesuit Refugee Service provides humanitarian assistance to Haitian refugees and migrants dwelling along the Haitian border with the Dominican Republic. From our field office in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, JRS works to help prevent forced repatriation along the Haiti-Dominican Republic border; to welcome repatriated migrants, and to reduce the number of human rights violations.

The Associated Press reports on Jovind Fritzner, who oversees the Ouanaminthe’s malaria prevention program. The AP says

“He is a key player in the long fight against the mosquito-born illness on the two-nation island of Hispaniola, malaria’s last outpost in the Caribbean. An estimated 30,000 Haitians were infected this year and several thousand more across the border in the Dominican Republic. Former President Jimmy Carter will visit the two countries Wednesday in hopes of spurring their leaders to join an island-wide pact to fight the disease.”

Read the full story here.

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