Advocate for Haitians frustrated after being blocked from meeting latest to land
Published:Monday | October 7, 2024 | 12:08 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
Kensington, East Portland
Malene Alleyne, founder of Freedom Imaginaries, is fuming over what she says is the lack of cooperation on the part of the Portland police, who, she said, have denied her access to speak to a group of Haitians who landed in the parish on Saturday.
Alleyne, who is an attorney and also advocate for Haitian refugees in Jamaica in their quest for asylum, told The Gleaner yesterday that the police have confirmed that a group of Haitians who were picked up in Kensington in eastern Portland are at the Port Antonio Police Station, but that efforts to speak to them, as their representative, was once again denied.
“When I asked to speak with them, I was denied access and I wasn’t provided reasons for why my request to provide legal assistance was refused,” she said.
“I introduced myself as a attorney-at-law, but, as you know, for sometime now I have been expressing concern about this unlawful and draconian practice of keeping Haitians, who arrive through irregular channels, holding them without access to attorneys-at-law or even family members or just anyone.
“In the case of every group of Haitians that has arrived since July last year, the practice has been to hold them for an initial period in detention, and this is done to facilitate their rapid forced removal from Jamaica without access to the court, without access to an asylum procedure, without the intervention of attorneys-at-law. And so this is just a continuation of a practice that we have spent over a year trying to indicate to the government that this is not how we operate in a rule of law.”
Alleyne’s comments come against the background of the arrival of the group of Haitians who landed by boat shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday on a beach at Kensington in the parish.
Police sources have revealed that, so far, they have in custody 14 males, four females, and two boys, who claim they are fleeing persecution, civil unrest, gang warfare, and economic hardships in their homeland of Haiti, where water and food are also scarce.
Additionally, members of the group, who reportedly spoke through an interpreter, are alleging that people are being brutally slaughtered and raped by gang members in Haiti, and that, with law enforcement having very little effect, due to ongoing conflicts, criminals are allowed to carry out their illicit acts with virtual impunity.
However, the arrival of Saturday’s group of Haitians, who turned up on Jamaica’s shores in a 28-foot fibreglass boat with a motorised engine affixed, has raised some level of concern among the police, who said the mode of transport for Haitians dating back to 2012 has traditionally been old, sea-worn, rickety sail boats. This time around they travelled in relative style.
In the meantime, Alleyne, who is disappointed with the handling of Haitians by local authorities, is urging the government to strike a balance and to respect the dignity of the Haitians who, according to her, are fleeing persecution and have traversed treacherous waters to come to Jamaica to seek protection.