wfn.org | CWS SENDS SHIPMENT TO HAITI, ADVOCATES

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

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE SENDING CONTAINERLOAD 
OF FOOD, MEDICINE TO HAITI

Humanitarian Agency Urges U.S. Not to Return Asylum-Seekers to Haiti

NEW YORK, NY - Wed 3/3 - Global humanitarian agency Church World
Service (CWS) announced today that it will send an initial shipment of
emergency food and medicine to Haiti next Monday (3/8). The agency is
also advocating for U.S. protection of Haitian asylum seekers. 

The Church World Service shipment will include a 20-foot container of
dehydrated food, 30 IMA (Interchurch Medical Assistance) standard
medicine boxes and eight disaster medicine boxes*. The aid shipment will
be directed to Church World Service's partner in the Dominican
Republic to ensure safe delivery and subsequent distribution to serve
in-country Haitians and Haitians now in the Dominican Republic. 

Each IMA Medicine Box contains enough medicine to serve an estimated
115 people, with approximately 90% antibiotics. The medicines are
designed to treat medical conditions common to disaster situations.

The aid shipment is part of a multi-pronged support effort CWS is
mounting on behalf of the Haitian people who are mired in chaos and
political uncertainty, following weeks of killings, rebel forces who
have overtaken more than a third of the island country including its
capital Port-au-Prince, violent pro-government forces, and last
weekend's exit of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to asylum in
Central Africa.

Conditions are still very unstable, even with the presence of several
hundred U.S., Canadian and French military forces whose role is
presently less than defined.

In addition to material aid, Church World Service is concurrently
staging a vigorous advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill on behalf of
Haitian asylum seekers. Says CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough,
"We're urging that the U.S. provide protection to Haitian refugees
who are fleeing Haiti.

"We are also requesting that the U.S.  grant temporary protective
status to Haitians presently in the U.S. who are fear for their safety
if they are deported. And that includes," McCullough adds, "those
Haitian asylum seekers who are still in detention in this country."

The global agency is in dialogue with the Congressional Black Caucus
and other influential advocacy bodies and is enlisting community- and
church-level support to lobby with President Bush, the Department of
State, and congressional representatives for humanitarian allowances in
the event of an influx of Haitian migrants.

"We're urging people to call the White House today," says
McCullough. 

The Bush administration has to date been adamant about returning all
Haitian refugees picked up at sea, particularly since U.S. Coast Guard
blockades began patrolling the island's waters during the uprising.

Church World Service is also now working in conjunction with the
Department of State, other refugee resettlement agencies, and CWS' own
ecumenical partners in Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic, to
accommodate a possible flow of refugees to specified and authorized
refugee sites. CWS is one of the nine Joint Voluntary Agencies that the
DOS engages with when resettling refugees in the U.S.,

In addition to its Haitian and Dominican NGO (non-governmental
organization) partners, CWS is conferring with the Caribbean Council of
Churches and Jamaican Council of Churches. Those Caribbean ecumenical
groups are similarly voicing support for the Haitian people. Jamaica has
already stated that it would accept Haitian asylum seekers to its
shores.

Church World Service spoke Sunday night (2.29) with its ecumenical
partners in Haiti, assuring them of solidarity and continued support for
their shared humanitarian and economic development work. CWS has elected
to keep the names of its on the ground partners anonymous at present,
due to concerns about ongoing violence and possible retributions. 

McCullough says CWS participation in the current response is "a
continuation of our longstanding presence in the Caribbean, working with
ecumenical partners there. Through our Miami and Washington offices," 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, D.C. 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.   

In a letter (3/1) to President Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said
U.S. treatment of fleeing Haitian refugees "is in flagrant violation
of our legal obligations under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees." Kennedy urged the administration
to "honor our nation's obligations to ensure that such protection is
available and effective."

 Kennedy specifically urged the U.S. to follow Canada's and the
Dominican Republic's example during the present crisis by suspending
the deportation of Haitian asylum seekers; ceasing removal proceedings
and release of Haiti asylum seekers now in detention; and halting
current policy of returning Haitians interdicted at sea with no
screening for asylum or guarantee for their safety.

The senator further requested that the U.S. work with the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organizations
to prevent other Caribbean countries from closing its borders to Haitian
asylum seekers and that the U.S. grant temporary protected status to
Haitians currently in the U.S., deferring any deportation to Haiti until
conditions there do not threaten their safety. 

The U.S. has said it would allocate up to 2,000 troops to participate
in the multinational peacekeeping force that the UN Security Council on
Monday (3/1) unanimously approved to send to Haiti. 

Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 36 denominations,
providing sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, and
refugee assistance in partnership worldwide.  

EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: Individuals or groups wishing to make financial
contributions for Haitian material aid may send checks or money orders
designate: #6742 - Haiti Crisis.

			###
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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