Archive for the ‘Haiti’ Category
Good Immigrant/Bad immigrant
8:59 am By la Macha · Haiti| Immigration · 3 Comments
15 Apr 2009Hoo, boy, this video just *reeks* of “good immigrant/bad immigrant” logic.There’s the good immigrant Cubans who just want to come to the U.S. legally to be with their families (and resist a brutal dictator)–and then there’s the unnamed “bad immigrants,” that surprisingly, look a lot like Mexicans and sneak into the U.S. through Mexico.
I think we need to be real here and recognize that Cubans claim a very privileged status in a corrupt system. They are not “privileged” in the sense that white U.S. citizens are (clearly, as shown by the woman in the video), but compared to other immigrants, they have a lot of privilege because of the U.S.’s interest in eliminating the communism of their home country.
Hence, you have Cubans that are given citizenship within a year under family reunification acts–and then you have Hatians that are “repatriated” (or sent back to) Haiti after they take the same route to get to the U.S. that many Cubans do (those rickety boats mentioned in the segment) and Mexicans, Guatemalans, Arabs from multiple countries and others that are now sitting in federal prisons after being forcibly rounded up and separated from their families by ICE.
Why do the families of one group of people count more than the families of another group of people doing the same thing?
What this all says to me is that there are some definite undercurrents of tension that exist within the immigrant community. I don’t blame or in anyway sit judgment on Cubans for capitalizing on the small amount of benefits that they get within the system–but I do think it’s really important to call out “good immigrant/bad immigrant” logic whenever we see it.
Immigrants who are “legal” are not better than those who are not–and all immigrants, no matter where they come from or how “legal” they are, deserve to be with their families. And the immigrant community really needs to start talking amongst ourselves about all the differences that we have–so that we can be a stronger, more united community.
Haitian Immigrants Still Face Hardship in the D.R.
6:10 pm By Maegan La Mala · Dominicans| Haiti| Immigration| Latin America| World · Comments Off
11 Nov 2008
Nearly 3 years ago, I wrote about reports out of the Dominican Republic that Haitian workers and immigrants were being subjected to the most extreme forms of xenophobia and discrimination, and many were losing their lives. This post stirred up a lot of emotions, and it appears that now, 3 years later, things aren’t much better for Haitians in the D.R. The Inter Press Service reports on recent hate crimes and reprisals which are driving Haitians out of the Dominican Republic.
“A group of Dominicans armed with pistols, machetes and knives came to take revenge on us. I broke my leg trying to escape from my house, which was on fire. It’s not fair that all Haitians should have to pay for the crime of one,” Elena Piti, a Haitian mother of seven who lives in the Dominican Republic, told IPS.“I’m thinking of going back to Haiti, because I’m afraid that something might happen to me. Besides, I have nothing left here. I lost everything: my house, my money and my job,” said Franklin Jean, who IPS found hiding out in a precarious shelter in the surrounding fields.
The violence is reportedly a reprisal for a crime committed by a Haitian man against an elderly Dominican farmer. IPS reports that a mob burned down 25 houses in a Haitian settlement of El Cerro.
Juan Fach has some distur fotos from Gonaives, Haiti, one the areas most impacted of the worst impacted areas in the country.
The images reveal that more help is needed.
More Info on Haiti Flood Relief
13 Sep 2008
HAITI FLOOD RELIEF
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (HWHR) is mobilizing solidarity support with Lakou New York to provide relief to flood victims Haiti. Lakou New York is a grassroots media outlet that connects members of the Haitian community to social justice movements through alternative news reporting, dialogue, and activist initiatives. HWHR was founded by Haitian women in 1992, to respond to the refugee crisis faced by Haitian immigrants in the U.S. and Guantanamo Bay. Both organizations have worked together on various projects, including flood disaster relief for Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2004 and both provide cultural programs that include popular education and community organizing.
In recent weeks, Tropical storms Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike have battered the coast and interior of Haiti. More than 1000 people have already been confirmed dead. The port city of Gonaives is under water, and the once-fertile Artibonite valley has been devastated by the opening of the biggest hydroelectric dam on the island. Never having fully recovered from the hurricanes of 2004, the southeastern agricultural region of Mapou is now isolated due to flooded roads.
As Haiti’s most vulnerable populations – rural peasants and the urban poor – struggle to re-organize with limited international assistance, HWHR and Lakou New York are appealing for solidarity to assist three important initiatives which will serve communities in hard-to-reach areas:
- HWHR is sending two members to Mapou, to bring initial solidarity aid and assess the needs first hand.
- We are collecting medical supplies to support the members of the Cuban Medical Brigade (traveling doctors) based in the coastal city of Jacmel.
- We will provide school supplies for the Kole Zepol elementary school project in Site Soley
Surviving victims are faced with an immediate threat of diseases and a raging diarrhea epidemic, the result of the drinkable water supply being contaminated by rains, mud and stagnant water containing dead bodies. The hurricane season is not over. While international humanitarian aid has reached some affected areas, it is limited, and certainly has not reached some of the most devastated areas. Meanwhile the death toll is expected to rise, as thousands of people are reported missing.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
To help our fellow Haitians, HWHR is collecting the following donations:
DRY FOODS: Nutritional bars, fruit & nut bars, cereal bars. NO CAN FOODS PLEASE
FIRST AID SUPPLIES: Rehydration salts, water purification tablets, antibiotic and antifungal (Mycology) creams, anti-allergy medication, anti-parasite medication, Tylenol, anti-diarrhetics, vitamins, gauze, tape and insect repellent.
PERSONAL HYGIENE GOODS: Toothpaste, tooth brushes, deodorant, sanitary napkins, soap and new underwear.
OTHER ITEMS: Tea Light candles & quality batteries (AA & D). NO CLOTHING , except brand new underwear.
Those who wish to make tax deductible $ donations can send checks payable to IFCO/ Haitian Relief, 418 West 145th Street, New York, NY 10031
DROP-OFF HOURS ARE Mon & Wed. 2:30-8:30 P.M.
HAITIAN WOMEN FOR HAITIAN REFUGEES
335 Maple Street, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY For more info: call (718) 735- 4660
(Please use rear entrance on Lincoln Road between Nostrand and New York Avenue)
Helping Haiti
7:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Haiti| New York City · Comments Off
12 Sep 2008The people of Haiti find themselves in critical need right now, dealing with the devastation after a series of hurricanes. They need our support.
In the NYC area you can contact Ninaj Raoul at the Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees office (amazing work being done there for years).
718.735.4660/hatianwomen@aol.com
They are doing relief work in some of the hardest hit and most rural areas of Haiti. They are planning to deliver badly needed
pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics and other drugs for
emergency and chronic conditions. For more information contact:
hatianwomen@aol.com
The Aftermath of Hurricanes in the Caribbean and Hwo to Help
10:53 am By Maegan La Mala · Cuba| Haiti| Weather · Comments Off
9 Sep 2008Yesterday, we wrote about the rising death toll in Caribbean island nations, as they bear the brunt of a series of hurricanes and tropical storms. Some images from Haiti:
Read after the jump to find out how you can help.
Ike’s Unwated Visit to Caribbean
10:01 am By Maegan La Mala · Cuba| Dominican Republic| Haiti| Weather · 1 Comment
8 Sep 2008
Hurricane Ike plows it’s way through the Caribbean today, with Havana, the capital of Cuba in it’s path.
Ike already went through Haiti and the Dominican Republic as a category 3 hurricane, killing at least 58 people in Haiti alone and one reported death in the Dominican Republic. Ike has since been downgraded to a category 2 storm, with 105 mile-per-hour winds.
Haiti has been hit particularly hard, with a death toll of at least 319 people from an unrelenting four storms in a row.
”With the others we lost houses, we lost animals and we lost plantations. Never bodies,” said Lisemene Ferry Raphael, 46, standing across from her dead 12-year-old god daughter.
There are bodies on almost every other corner inside the town, where two rivers and the torrential rain of Ike swallowed houses and swept children and old women downstream, according to The Miami Herald, which has the only international reporter at the town along Route 1 on the road to the city Gonaives.
Franzt Samedi’s 5-year-old adopted daughter, Tamesha Jean, was among the dead.
”I’m the one who she calls Papa. I’m the one who is responsible for her. If she were with me she would not have died,” Samedi said.
Via / Citizen Orange
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