wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] CWS ships food, medicine to Haiti

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Note #8159 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04127
March 9, 2004

CWS ships food, medicine to Haiti

Urges U.S. to stop sending refugees back to chaotic homeland

by Anne Wall
Church World Service

NEW YORK - Church World Service (CWS), the global humanitarian agency, on
March 8 sent an initial shipment of emergency food and medicine to Haiti.

	The agency is also advocating for U.S. protection of Haitian
asylum-seekers.

	The CWS shipment included a 20-foot container of dehydrated food, 30
IMA (Interchurch Medical Assistance) standard medicine boxes, and eight
disaster medicine boxes. The aid will be directed to the CWS partner in the
Dominican Republic to ensure safe delivery and distribution to in-country
Haitians and Haitians now in the Dominican Republic.

	Each IMA box contains enough medicine for about 115 people with
conditions common in disaster situations.

	The aid shipment is part of a multi-faceted CWS support effort
mounted for Haiti after weeks of killings, battles between rebel groups and
pro-government forces and the recent exile of former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. Conditions in Haiti remain very unstable, despite the presence of
several hundred U.S., Canadian and French soldiers.

	In addition to material aid, CWS is conducting a vigorous advocacy
campaign on Capitol Hill on behalf of Haitian asylum seekers.

	"We're urging that the U.S. provide protection to Haitian refugees
who are fleeing Haiti," said CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough. "We
are also requesting that the U.S. grant temporary protective status to
Haitians presently in the U.S. who fear for their safety if they are
deported. And that includes those Haitian asylum-seekers who are still in
detention in this country."

	The global agency is working with the Congressional Black Caucus and
other influential advocacy groups and enlisting community and church support
in urging President Bush, the Department of State and congressional
representatives for humanitarian aid in the event of an influx of Haitian
migrants.

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

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

	CWS is also now working in conjunction with the Department of State,
refugee resettlement agencies and its own ecumenical partners in Haiti and
neighboring Dominican Republic to accommodate a possible flow of refugees to
specified and authorized sites. CWS is one of nine agencies that the State
Department works with in resettling refugees in the United States.

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

	McCullough said the CWS response is "a continuation of our
longstanding presence in the Caribbean, working with ecumenical partners
there."

	"Through our Miami and Washington offices, we have been vigilant
advocates for just treatment of Haitian asylum-seekers and detainees," he
added.

	In a March 1 letter 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." He urged the Bush administration to "honor our nation's
obligations to ensure that such protection is available and effective."

	Kennedy specifically urged the United States to follow the example of
Canada and the Dominican Republic by suspending the deportation of Haitian
refugees; stopping removal proceedings and releases of Haitian asylum-seekers
now in detention; and halting the current policy of returning Haitians
interdicted at sea with no screening for asylum or guarantee of their safety.

	Kennedy also asked the U.S. government to work with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international
organizations to prevent other Caribbean countries from closing their borders
to Haitian asylum-seekers and to grant temporary protected status to Haitians
now in the United States while the violence and chaos continue in Haiti.

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