[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       PLIGHT OF HAITIAN REFUGEES

                                 ______


                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 1994

  Mrs. MEEK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
bring to the attention of my colleagues two bills--H.R. 3663, the 
Haitian Refugee Fairness Act and H.R. 3364 which would allow the 
children of legal United States residents to adjust their status here 
in the United States--that I introduced at the close of the first 
session of the 103d Congress.
  Time and time again we have heard that Haitians are fleeing economic 
oppression and not political persecution. While I agree that after 
years of dictatorship and corruption, Haiti's economy is a disaster, I 
disagree that the people of Haiti are not fleeing the violence they are 
being subjected to at the hands of the military and the violent 
political movement known as FRAPH, the Front for the Advancement and 
Progress of Haiti, a paramilitary anti-Aristide force; the acronym 
means ``hit'' or ``strike'' in Creole. Just last week, Douglas Farah of 
the Washington Post reported on FRAPH, a violent political movement 
that is growing in Haiti under the protection of the military. The Post 
article reports that FRAPH is modeled after the feared Tontons 
Macoutes, a private right-wing militia employed by ``Papa Doc'' 
Duvalier to help keep power--the same lawless individuals who are now 
exercising power as they did during the reign of Papa Doc and his 
dictatorship. ``Scared residents said FRAPH members have robbed and 
beaten civilians numerous times but the army refused to intervene,'' 
the Post article reports. A member of the organization describes the 
relationship between FRAPH and the army as one of brothers.
  Recently, it was reported that a paramilitary group attacked the 
residence of a 14-year-old girl. This young girl, the daughter of one 
of my constituents who is a legal United States resident had been 
forced to return to Haiti to get a visa. While the child escaped 
danger, the father does not know her whereabouts now because she had to 
go into hiding. No child should be exposed to this type of danger. This 
is just one example of a dozen of the reports that have come out of 
Haiti by reporters, human rights observers and my own constituents of 
the military, the police, and attaches engaging in murder, torture, 
theft, extortion and rape.
  Mr. Speaker, I introduced H.R. 3364, legislation which would allow 
the children of legal U.S. residents to adjust their status here in the 
House States. The need for the bill is even greater now than when I 
introduced it in November.
  Current law requires these children of legal U.S. residents, who are 
living with their families and going to school here in the United 
States, to leave the United States in order to adjust their status. 
Because of this law, more than 150 children have been stranded in Haiti 
while waiting to receive their immigrant visas. And during that time 
there have been continuous, numerous reports of the terror that the 
Haitian people must endure under the illegal government there.
  These children, all of whom have I-130 petitions approved by INS, 
must appear before a consular officer for a final interview and 
issuance of a visa. Requiring the children of legal U.S. residents to 
return to this uncontrolled environment of terror and intimidation to 
adjust status is inhumane. It results in children being cruelly 
separated from their parents and forces them to live with strangers or, 
if they are lucky, with family or friends in an unsafe environment 
until their cases are resolved.
  Second, I introduced H.R. 3663, the Haitian Refugee Fairness Act that 
would bring the treatment of Haitian refugees by the United States 
Government into conformity with international law and make the 
treatment that Haitian refugees receive from the United States 
Government consistent with the treatment given to refugees from other 
nations.
  Haitians have been singled out by a United States policy that 
discriminates against them as no other persecuted people have been 
discriminated against in our history. Right now Haitians are being held 
hostage in their own country. If they leave Haiti, they are rescued at 
sea by the Coast Guard and returned without the benefit of a hearing to 
determine if they have a legitimate claim for asylum. With regard to 
the Haitians, we have turned our backs on desperate refugees. Our 
current refugee processing procedures in Haiti subject the applicants 
to needless danger and are really worthless in protecting Haitians from 
persecution.
  While the ultimate solution to the problem of refugee flight from 
Haiti is to restore democracy there, I ask my colleagues to help 
correct the injustices of current law by cosponsoring H.R. 3364 and 
H.R. 3663. We must treat those fleeing persecution in Haiti with the 
same compassion that we treat refugees from other countries.

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