HaitiXchange was recently invited to a Regional Deportee Conference regarding Latin-American deportees from the United States and Canada deported to the Caribbean. The conference was held at the beautiful Villa Creole Hotel in Petionville, Haiti, and had representatives from Haiti (of course), The Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Jamaica. The participants discussed how they have handled the deportee situation in their own countries, as well as the stigma and challenges that deportees may face when they go back to their country of origin.

Some of the statistics presented flew in the face of the notion that deportees are the main reason for the increase in crime in many of the countries to which they return. They discussed many of the projects they have put in place to help with the deportee problem, and there was even interesting testimony from some deportees themselves.

Bernard Headly of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, mentioned that the U.S and the Caribbean have fundamentally different views of deportation. While the U.S. sees deportees as misbehaving guests who can be made to leave by virtue of the fact that they aren’t citizens of the Unites States, Caribbean countries see these deportees as corrupted products of an American society who should not be sent back, since many have entered the U.S. at a very young age and end up being a burden to their countries of origin.

Difficulties In Integrating Deportees in Haiti:
-Haitian society already faces severe socio-economic problems and high unemployment.
-Deportees face stigma. All are believed to be criminals. Without support, many become destitute, and may resort to crime.
-Deportees face cultural shock and find it difficult to integrate.

The United States has been sending deportees to Haiti for the past 20 years. While deportees initially entered Haiti informally, on commercial airlines, more recently special “Mashall” flights have been bringing deportees to Haiti in ever-growing numbers. From 2001 to 2006, about 2564 deportees have been sent back to Haiti. In the last 20 years, at least 5000 deportees have been sent back. Deportees consist of non-criminals who have violated U.S. immigration laws, criminals who have sometimes committed minor infractions such as driving without a license, and even one man who was deported for spanking his child, or more serious crimes like drug dealing, as well as dangerous criminals who have committed murder or other serious offenses. Less than 3% of the deportees sent to Haiti are considered dangerous criminals.

In most cases deportees have been legal American residents who have left Haiti at a very young age, many of whom do not speak French or Creole. Guy Alexandre is the director of I.O.M. in Haiti (International Organization of Migration.) They help Haitian deportees settle in Haiti via various programs including the dispersion of funds to help them start their own business. Mr. Alexandre provided the following statistics:

Statistics:
-2564 deportees between 2001 and 2006.
-5000 deportees sent back to Haiti in the last 20 years.
-54% deported due to violation of immigration laws
-33% deported due to drug trafficking (mostly from New York and Miami.)
-Less than 3% deported for criminal activity and domestic violence.