Caribbean News
59 Disable Orphans embraced by Jamaica; the hard road out of Haiti
Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
#Jamaica, March 26, 2024 – Fifty-nine disabled Haitian orphans and 13 of their caregivers arrived in Portland Jamaica by boat after 36 hours on the water, on Thursday March 21st, fleeing from the quickly collapsing gang-run, Haiti.
The Haitian refugees are from the HaitiChildren Charity in Haiti, which has fallen victim to gangs. While they are in Jamaica, they will be housed at Mustard Seed Communities, an internationally renowned Catholic charity in Kingston.
Efforts to bring the children to Jamaica were being made for months but despite authorization by the Jamaican Government and from Mustard Seed, they were awaiting permission from the Haitian Government to leave Haiti.
Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin, head of Haiti’s Child Welfare Agency, pushed back at the effort saying that transferring an orphanage from one country to another, was “inconceivable and legally inadmissible.”
Reluctance was also fueled by Haiti’s history of children being taken from the country during crises and never seen or heard from again.
Nine children died during the wait for approval from the Haitian Government; it has been 14-months of hellish conditions due to the gang activity also blamed for intercepting aid and food for vulnerable people in Haiti.
Susie Krabacher is the Co-founder of the HaitiChildren Charity and in speaking to the Miami Herald shared much of the harrowing predicament.
Paul Marie, one of the children who was supposed to be in Jamaica with the others, died on Christmas night at an understaffed and ill-equipped hospital, after being taken to three different health facilities, none of which were equipped to take care of him.
After all that, thanks to the now former Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, they were able to legally make the trip to Jamaica, as he signed the required agreement before he stepped down on March 12, says Krabacher.
Considering that, the issue wasn’t coming to Jamaica, it was leaving Haiti, as pointed out by Krabacher, Co-founder of HaitiChildren, in reports on RJR News.
She says just last week, they tried to transport the kids to Jamaica by plane, but the pilot was barred from taking off from Haiti, hence the reason they came by boat.
After they left the orphanage, the bus carrying the children and their caregivers was stopped by armed men according to Krabacher, who was already in Jamaica monitoring the situation by phone. After hours on the phone with staff, they managed to get the bus free and they were finally on their way.
Krabacher reports that the children showed tremendous courage and strength despite the delays and being stopped when so close to
being on their way to better care.
“They are all smiles. They all kept talking over one another into the phone, ‘Mom, tell daddy we are not afraid! Mom, we are so happy. ‘Thank you, mom and daddy. You kept your promise! Will you be there, mom?” she told the Herald.
Krabacher, who is from the US, informed that they were trying to get the children to America but their efforts were shut down by the Haitian government for reasons not mentioned, if known.
This huge accomplishment comes after Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith and Prime Minister Andrew Holness were consulted in June 2023 about taking the children in when Haitian political and civil society leaders met Kingston, Jamaica, for negotiations with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Reports say Johnson-Smith was in communication with Mustard Seed’s founder, Priest Gregory Ramkissoon, their conversations centered on how the government could grant temporary legal status to the children and their caregivers, and their care at Mustard Seed.
Johnson-Smith describes the mission as one of mercy, and it’s indeed so as not only is Mustard Seed willing to take the refugees in, they are also willing to take care of them at no cost, according to David Silvera, Mustard Seed’s head of business development, as reported by the Herald.
The children and caregivers were welcomed by officials from the Portland Health Department, police and Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard. They were processed and given food.
The orphanage is located in the town of Arcahaie and was targeted by gangs. Gangs not only stole their food, but also threatened to kill the children. And staff members have been kidnapped.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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