KINGSTON, March 7 (JIS):

The Government is looking at how best Jamaica can accommodate citizens of Haiti and other persons seeking to leave that country in light of deteriorating social conditions there, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince.  

This, without Jamaica being overwhelmed by an influx of refugees, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang. 

“At this point, we will agree to take a number of people legitimately, namely the orphans in an orphanage that was isolated and challenged, and the Mustard Seed Community is taking them. We have agreed and the [logistics] of that [are] being worked out. We have [also] been requested by the World Bank to take their staff here… [and] we are working out the process to get that done,” the Minister stated.

“So, what we can do through legitimate means we are doing. We still have to maintain control over our borders, because we cannot afford a flood of refugees. We will look at what we do… and review it on literally a daily basis,” Dr. Chang added.

He was speaking during Thursday’s (March 7) sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, whose members were reviewing the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chang said the Government is looking to enhance Jamaica’s border security to prevent an influx of Haitian refugees.

“We primarily have to manage our borders; we have to ensure we don’t get that flood coming this way. Still… for whatever reason, we have had a couple of boats coming in. Their interest is going into North America, and they tend to go north through The Bahamas, and they sometimes go east and go all the way down to South America and come back up on the Pacific coast of the United States,” he noted.

“But while we are deeply concerned… the Government is taking an active and leading role in trying to get CARICOM… to work with partners internationally and international agencies to bring some stability to Haiti and to move us back to, hopefully, a more sustainable governance,” the Minister added.

Dr. Chang emphasised that, security-wise, “We just seek to protect our borders, which means increasing the level of activity on our east coast, south and north, and also increasing our collaboration with both our security forces contacts in Haiti, as well as other international bodies in Haiti involved in security, to monitor the situation.”

Regarding Haitians coming to Jamaica, Dr. Chang pointed out that the policy is to return them to their country.

“We did not see any major reason [not to], because the area they’re going back to in the far south, Les Cayes and back to Cap Haitien in the north, are areas which are relatively calm. There are no reports of any significant challenges in these areas at the time we’re doing it,” the Minister said.

CONTACT: LATONYA LINTON