wfn.org | CWS PREPARED TO ASSIST HAITIANS

["Ann Walle" <awalle@churchworldservice.org>]

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE PREPARED TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE 
TO HAITIAN REFUGEES 
Agency's longstanding programs an advantage 
NEW YORK - FEB 9 - Responding to the escalating political and humanitarian
crisis in Haiti, global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS)
announced today that it is monitoring the deteriorating situation and is
prepared to assist with Haitians who might be displaced in the turmoil.  In
addition the agency is prepared to provide relief in the form of emergency
aid, shelter or resettlement to Haitians in-country and to offer ongoing
assistance to those crossing the Haitian-Dominican Republic border. The
agency is working with partners in the Bahamas to provide assistance there to
those arriving by boat. 

Protests against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have escalated ever since
the country's contested 2000 elections and, more recently, when the country's
parliament ground to a halt with legislative terms expiring. Aristide's
zealously loyal Lavalas Party has been accused of backing gangs to harass
protesters. Scores of Haitians have been killed in recent months.

Church World Service Executive Director the Rev. John L. McCullough says CWS'
participation in the current refugee response is "a continuation of support
for in-country Haitians and Haitian asylum seekers coming to the U.S.  

"We have a longstanding presence in Haiti," McCullough explains, "working
with ecumenical and grassroots partners. And through our Miami office," he
adds, "we have been vigilant advocates for just treatment of Haitian asylum
seekers and detainees."  

In March 2003, Church World Service hosted the Haitian Migration Crisis
Conference in Washington, DC. Keynoted by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the
forum gathered government, humanitarian advocates and policy makers who
pressed for a turnaround in discriminatory treatment of Haitian asylum
seekers.  

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's eight million people
are hungry.  The worsening food crisis was exacerbated by December floods,
which ruined maize and cassava harvest. Food aid contributions fell short,
and distribution of supplies has been dangerous and is inhibited by the
demonstrations and violence. 

Founded in 1946, Church World Service is a global humanitarian aid agency of
denominations working in partnership with indigenous organizations to support
sustainable self-help development, meet emergency needs, aid refugees, and
address the root causes of poverty and powerlessness.
### 
CONTACT:  
Ann Walle/CWS/New York
Phone: (212) 870 2654
e-mail: awalle@churchworldservice.org 
Jan Dragin/New York/Boston
Phone: (781) 925-1526
e-mail: jdragin@gis.net 

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