4 days ago
Haitians lament US travel ban amid gang violence
US President Donald Trump's inclusion of Haiti in his administration's list of countries that are banned from travel visas has hit the Caribbean nation struggling with gang violence hard, both there and among its expats.
"Haiti will be further isolated. The United States was the first destination for Haitians," said Pierre Esperance, a human rights activist in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince.
Trump on Wednesday announced citizens of 12 countries including Haiti, Libya and Afghanistan will not be allowed to travel to the United States beginning June 9.
The nationals of seven other countries, including Venezuela and Cuba, will have face severe restrictions when seeking options to travel stateside.
The travel ban, similar to one implanted during Trump's first term, is part of the Republican leader's tough immigration agenda, pouring cold water on migrants who hoped to seek refuge in the United States from crises in their home countries.
The news could not come at a worse time for Haiti, which has been in the midst of an ongoing humanitarian crisis spurred by powerful street gangs that have terrorized the population with kidnappings, murders and other crimes for months on end.
Pierre Christian Namphy, political director of the NGO Family Action Network Movement, said the ban is "appalling, it's cruel, it's racist, it's xenophobia, and it's singling out individuals by their nationality."
Namphy, who is of Haitian origin himself, believes the measure is " an effort to court a racist anti-immigrant base" from Trump's campaign, similar to when the US president spread the baseless claim last year that Haitians were eating cats and dogs in the community of Springfield, Ohio.
"The communities of Haiti here are law-abiding communities. We are fleeing the violence of the gangs inside Haiti, we are fleeing the problem. We are not the problem," He added.
In the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti, Klifft Ojour pointed out the importance of the Haitian immigrant community in the United States particularly in Florida, where an estimated 500,000 residents originate from the Caribbean nation.
"This is very unfortunate because Haitians immensely contribute to different vital sectors that makes the society function, and especially here in South Florida, such as hospitality or healthcare," Ojour told AFP.
Ojour, a 32-year-old businessman who was born in Port-au-Prince, said that while he does not see the benefit of imposing a travel ban, he said it is a wake-up call for Haiti to improve the devastating humanitarian crisis.
"It's time that the Haitians start holding public servants accountable for the degrading state of public administration. Because the problem is first and foremost within our country," Ojour said.
For the time being, the Haiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Trump's travel ban by saying "the government is striving, with the help of its international partners, to combat insecurity and strengthen border security.
"The MAEC calls attention to the danger posed by armed groups, recently designated as terrorist groups, to Haiti's external relations."
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