CARICOM offering support to Haitian police, humanitarian aid
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has decided they will offer assistance to the lawless and violence-torn Haiti by donating support to the Haitian National Police (HNP).
CARICOM said in a media statement yesterday that the focus of the Community will be to provide training for the HNP and to provide humanitarian assistance to HNP and the wider Haitian society, taking into account the challenging humanitarian and security situation of the French creole-speaking nation.
“In acknowledgement of the common historical experiences and the strong African-Caribbean relationship, heads of government also agreed to seek support from African countries for Haiti,” CARICOM stated.
“They also agreed to work with the governments of Canada and the United States as well as the UNDP on the ongoing issues and, at the upcoming Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to approach both International Financial Institutions to ascertain what further assistance they could provide to Haiti,” it added.
These decisions were made when CARICOM heads of government with responsibility for Haiti met on Sunday, March 5 under the chairmanship of the Bahamian Prime Minister and Chair of CARICOM, Philip Davis.
They received a report from the Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who led a one-day CARICOM Special Mission to Haiti on February 27. The mission met with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to hear their views on the way forward.
Back in the Virgin Islands, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has said the deteriorating situation in Haiti is very important for the BVI. He noted that the territory “continues to see a steady stream of Haitians fleeing their country and arriving on our shores through human trafficking or drifting ashore by boat or raft”.
He said the territory’s law enforcement agencies, security personnel, and other public officers are doing their best to appropriately respond to these arrivals, “including asylum cases and repatriations”.
It is not clear what the BVI’s role will be in CARICOM’s response to the Haitian crisis. The country has plunged into deep lawlessness because of a recent upsurge in gang violence socio-political turmoil.
“In acknowledgement of the common historical experiences and the strong African-Caribbean relationship, heads of government also agreed to seek support from African countries for Haiti,” CARICOM stated.
“They also agreed to work with the governments of Canada and the United States as well as the UNDP on the ongoing issues and, at the upcoming Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to approach both International Financial Institutions to ascertain what further assistance they could provide to Haiti,” it added.
These decisions were made when CARICOM heads of government with responsibility for Haiti met on Sunday, March 5 under the chairmanship of the Bahamian Prime Minister and Chair of CARICOM, Philip Davis.
They received a report from the Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who led a one-day CARICOM Special Mission to Haiti on February 27. The mission met with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to hear their views on the way forward.
Back in the Virgin Islands, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has said the deteriorating situation in Haiti is very important for the BVI. He noted that the territory “continues to see a steady stream of Haitians fleeing their country and arriving on our shores through human trafficking or drifting ashore by boat or raft”.
He said the territory’s law enforcement agencies, security personnel, and other public officers are doing their best to appropriately respond to these arrivals, “including asylum cases and repatriations”.
It is not clear what the BVI’s role will be in CARICOM’s response to the Haitian crisis. The country has plunged into deep lawlessness because of a recent upsurge in gang violence socio-political turmoil.
