International Outrage at Treatment of Haitian Migrants

Photo: Paul Ratje, AFP

The images of Haitian migrants being corralled by US Border Patrol agents on horseback were shocking, even in a time when the bar for that qualification is extraordinarily high. These photos have already been logged into the global annals of egregious human behavior. And while they are very much of the moment, they are also images of escaped slaves being rounded up in another time and place: the commonality is the assumption that some among us are more human than others, and so respect and the norms of decency can be suspended at will and without consequence to the perpetrators. 

Regardless of where you fall in the political spectrum, or how you feel about the estimated 16,000 or so mostly Haitian would-be immigrants massed at the US border connecting Texas and Mexico, it is not acceptable to treat people this way. If there is no other option than to transport these people to Haiti, a country where most of them have not lived for a considerable time, then take into account their circumstances and plan accordingly. 

Deportations are already underway to Haiti in plane after plane, with belongings dumped unceremoniously onto the runway upon landing. Deportees have not had time to make any plans, and they are arriving in what to them is the equivalent of a foreign country. A country still reeling from the aftermath of last month’s major earthquake and beset by political instability, rampant kidnappings and a gang presence so pervasive they have begun to govern in some areas. The airport in Port-au-Prince has degenerated into an apocalyptic movie sequence, with people storming departing planes in a desperate attempt to escape their fate.

Setting big-issue policy decisions and long-term political solutions to one side, there is no excuse for the inhumane treatment of people that we are currently witnessing. Not in the US or Haiti. Not now or ever. We need to sound the alarm and stop what is already a stain on all humanity before it can metastasize beyond our ability to course correct.

It is worth noting that within days of the migrants arriving in Texas, World Central Kitchen set up operation and, with the support of local restaurants, has been providing hot meals free of charge to thousands of families, along with water, diapers and baby food. If one non-profit organization can deploy on this scale and with this level of resources, all in a matter of days, then surely the task is not too great. It just takes a commitment to do the right thing and a few people willing to forsake the conventions of arcane bureaucracy and embrace the essential oneness of the human family.

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Hugh Locke, President, SFA

Timote Georges, Executive Director, SFA

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