FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2017
CONTACT: media@cwsglobal.org | 202.733.5151
Urge DHS Secretary Kelly to adopt long-term strategy to demonstrate compassion for Haitians in the United States.
LISTEN to a recording of today’s call here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, advocates responded to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly’s recent trip to Haiti and the ungenerous six-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians in the United States. They urged Secretary Kelly to pursue a longer-term strategy that better responds to Haiti’s still-incomplete earthquake recovery, food insecurity crisis, and the worst cholera epidemic in the world. A recording of today’s call is available here.
Below are highlights from the call:
“We understand that TPS is meant to be a temporary, not permanent protection measure,” said Jasmine Huggins, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer, Church World Service. “But Haiti is consistently ranked by global indices as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to both climate change and hunger. We are now five days into the 2017 Hurricane Season, which meteorologists have warned will be more active than usual. We pray that Haiti – and the U.S – will be spared. But the stark reality is that it will take less than a Category 3 storm to cause major damage in Haiti, and the country is nowhere near recovery from Matthew last year. We urge Secretary Kelly to make a strategic, but also just and compassionate decision, on extended TPS for Haitians.”
“Hundreds of thousands of people are still living in make-shift shelters with nothing but plastic sheeting over their heads, said Alice Thomas, Climate Displacement Program Manager, Refugees International. “The hurricane also wiped out crops, the main source of income and food in the affected regions, and more than 900,000 still require humanitarian aid to recover their livelihoods. Worse yet, recent flooding has wiped out most of the spring crop. RI is particularly concerned about the risks to women and girls. Rates of gender-based violence are highest in the wake of the disaster, as is the likelihood that poor families will resort to sending children to live outside of the household. We urge Secretary Kelly to visit hurricane-affected areas of the country to see with his eyes how people are living, the extreme levels of poverty, and the total devastation that the hurricane has wrought.”
“In 2015, the government released the National Housing Plan announcing and there were 700,000 houses in need,” said Reyneld Sanon, Executive Secretary, Konbit Ayisyen pou Lojman Altènativ (KAYLA). “The hurricane in 2016 increased the need for housing in the country. Housing is expensive to rent and is rented in American dollars. Areas where individuals are living in makeshift housing are not being scheduled for development, the largest of these is Canaan, the people there don’t have potable water, schools, or any sort of services. The government did build about 3000 houses, but that is not enough to meet demand…NGOs have built alternative forms of housing, but it’s also not enough to meet demand.”
“We work closely with rural communities of the south east and the south (Sud et Grand-Anse) of the country,” said Anne Laurence Buteau, SUCO. “In the regions of the country where we are present we witnessed the devastation caused by Matthew especially regarding the loss of crops and shelters. That situation resulted in food shortages but also increased the economic vulnerability of rural families. For example, the “Madan Sara” women who live mostly from the buy and sell of fresh products has been living for a long time from the sell of charcoal with is not barely enough to sustain their families. This is added pressure for the 50,000 haitians depending on the renewing of the TPS who are currently working and contributing to the well being of their family back home to alleviate these dire living conditions.
“My faith—and the faith of most Americans—rests on the bedrock teachings that human beings must be responsible for one another,” said Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, Executive Director, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. “We can turn to many religious texts and see that we are called on to welcome the stranger, care for the orphan and widow, feed the hungry, love the neighbor as ourselves. Haitians are our nearby neighbors and fellow human beings who are in need.”
Last week, development and humanitarian organizations sent a letter to Secretary Kelly asking to meet with him on Haiti TPS. For more, please refer to this recent press release.
Since 1946, Church World Service has supported refugees, immigrants and other displaced individuals, in addition to providing sustainable relief and development solutions to communities that wrestle with hunger and poverty. Learn more about our work and join our global homebase for refugee solidarity at GreaterAs1.org.
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