Smuggled Haitians get measly wages for work in Jamaica
May 06, 2008
HAITIANS smuggled into Jamaica as part of a human smuggling ring have been receiving measly wages for work done on construction sites, among other jobs offered.
"Recently we heard that in Portland people were paying them (Haitians) $250 per day to do work, which is pathetic. They give them food then pay them $250 a day to do construction work and all those things," according to Inspector Steve Brown, spokesman for Operation Kingfish.
"We know that when Jamaicans go up to Haiti to smuggle drugs, they bring back Haitians with them and use them to do odd jobs but as far as a number, we don't have that," Inspector Brown added.
He did say however that since the middle of 2007, 11 persons (mostly Jamaicans) have been arrested on charges including human trafficking and that there are now seven such cases befor ethe court.
"Not every Haitian who comes here does so of his own will," a Haitian source with intimate knowledge of the situation told the Observer. "I know of Jamaicans living in Haiti, particularly in the south in places like Cité de Soleil, they are the ones taking people here. They smuggle arms and promise people, especially young girls, that they will get them jobs in Jamaica and when they get them here they hand them over to other people," the source said.
Another source, who does work with Haitians detained here, reported that victims paid up to US$600 for trips after being told they would have taken them to Miami, but taken to Jamaica instead.
"These are people who sell their goats, their house, any and everything they have to get that US$600 and when they come here there is nothing. And it's not like they can return because there is nothing to return to," said the source.
Haitians have always been coming to Jamaica but they started fleeing in droves in 2004 when a rebel coup ousted then Prime Minister Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Jamaica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Observer that of the number of Jamaicans who have arrived here since 2000, only 25 have been granted asylum. Spokesman for the ministry, Wilton Dyer, couldn't immediately supply the total number of asylum seekers to have come but said that it had been "less than 1,000 since 2004".
Chargé d'affaires at the Haitian embassy in Jamaica, Max Alcé, told the Observer that between 2005 and 2007, 751 Haitians were repatriated. Four hundred and six were done in 2005 alone while the remainder is split between 2006 and 2007. He couldn't say however, how many were being detained because "(the police) do not advise us when they hold Haitians until months later when they need an interpreter to take them to court or when they are getting ready to deport them".
Observer investigations revealed, however, that another 13 were sent home via a chartered flight on April 25. Up to that date, we were only aware of three others who were in lock-up. The three Haitians and a Honduran who have been charged with illegal entry and illegal possession of firearm have been in custody since last year when they were picked up at sea by local police. When they turned up in the Gun Court last Tuesday, they were remanded in custody because their legal aid attorneys reportedly had other cases.
"They are all over the place illegally but it's difficult sometimes to identify them when we go into the areas unless they speak. Asylum has been granted to a number of them but there are a number of them here who are illegal and they become involved in other things like the guns for drugs trade between Jamaica and Haiti," Inspector Brown said....
Author: Kimone Thompson
Source: Jamaica Observer
