Haitian refugee status appeal

A major religious organization in the United States has launched a campaign urging President Barack Obama to grant refugee status to thousands of undocumented Haitians.



The Washington-based American Friends Service Committee has appealed to President Obama to reverse the Bush administration\'s position and grant temporary protection status to Haitians.



The committee notes that storms and hurricanes in Haiti have left scores of people dead, an estimated one million families and children homeless, and destroyed local crops needed for food.



It said at present, 70 per cent of the Haitian people are unemployed, while others still wait for relief and assistance.



Ninaj Raoul, the founder and executive director of the New York-based Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, said it is fair for the estimated 30 thousand Haitians who face deportation because of their immigration status, to be granted temporary protection status.



In April, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while en route to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, said the US was considering granting the status to illegal Haitians.



But Haitian advocates believe the US government is not moving fast enough.