Sanctimonious exploiters of the Haitians

May 29, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The Haitians are back in the news again and for all the wrong reasons. Because here again our Caricom brothers and sisters are being victims of that vicious cycle we call human trafficking and poverty. It is a vicious and cruel web when you are poor and vulnerable, and Haiti is one of those places on the map where untold horrors are being meted out to its people both at home and abroad.
It is a dehumanising state of affairs, and something has to be done urgently to arrest this situation. I am talking about a people who are sexually and economically exploited. It means that in the light of such gross inhumanity, a responsible government cannot stand idly by and watch this brutal exploitation of another human being conducted right at our doorstep; that is not going to happen. In this regard, our government has stepped up its surveillance as it relates to the entrance of Haitians into our country. We have forthrightly implemented stricter rules to deal with this inhumane practice of allowing their entry and later on, their exit to other ports, when we know fully well that these people are going on to live wretched lives in their new home.
Now, this has ruffled the feathers of the political opposition, in so much that they are back in the spotlight as they take on the role of being the Haitians “Guardians”. But is the opposition really who it claims to be, helping Haitians? I think not, I think they are sanctimonious exploiters of the Haitians, because if they did care, they would have remembered the shameful results of their last efforts, when Haitians they claim to be visitors to our shores were simply a people that were being smuggled into neighbouring countries, such as Brazil and Cayenne in a lucrative human trafficking ring. We are not going to drop our guard and allow this to happen again.
Further, it is a well documented fact that Haitians are using Guyana as a transshipment point to other destinations. It is well documented that these people are also used for other nefarious acts such as prostitution and a modern day slave trading ring. In light of the foregoing, shouldn’t we then be more cautious in our approach to such glaring anomalies?
The point I am making is, if Haitians want to go to Brazil or Cayenne as the case may be, then let them do just that, let them go directly to Brazil or Cayenne. In the same tone, we deride this new found political opportunism coming from the opposition, as it browbeats us into accepting an illegality.
In times like these, I also ask the pointed question: Where is the Guyana Human Rights Association in all of this, don’t they care? Do they have an ounce of humanity for Haitians? These are the questions, which I would like the GHRA to answer.
Finally, as we take our place on the world stage, we do not want our country to be sullied by having a bad human rights record, or be blacklisted by the international community as a place where human trafficking flourishes. Therefore, the sum of it all is that we want our country to be seen as a place where we will maintain that clean safe record.

Respectfully submitted,
Neil Adams

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