US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1550

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR, SMIG, HA 
SUBJECT: JUNE 1 REPATRIATION OF 162 HAITIAN MIGRANTS 
 
REF: A. PAP 1274 
 
     B. PAP 1375 
 
1.   SUMMARY.  On June 1, the Coast Guard cutter Confidence 
repatriated to Haiti 162 migrants who claimed to have 
departed Les Cayes on 19 May.  The Confidence, the USCGC 
Metompkin and a USCG helicopter intercepted the migrants in a 
65 foot sail freighter 60 nautical miles south of Andros 
Island, Bahamas on the afternoon of May 27.  The migrants 
claimed that the length of their voyage was due to their 
passage close to Cuba in order to avoid USCG patrols.  Among 
them was a family of eight including six children and their 
mother, eight months pregnant.  Of the 162 migrants, 25 
percent were female, 90 percent were younger than 40, and 10 
percent were minors.  Their boat was in fair condition and 
they had some provisions left at the time of interdiction. 
None of the migrants expressed credible fear of persecution. 
Some cited economic misery and unemployment as the reasons 
for their departure.  Their stated destination was Miami. 
Some admitted to paying from USD20 to USD400 for passage. 
This is the third migrant repatriation in the past month 
(reftels).  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.   The migrants claimed to have departed from Morency, a 
village near Les Cayes on the southern coast of Haiti on 
April 19.  Many migrants listed Les Cayes and Saint Louis du 
Sud as their home, although others said they were from 
Port-au-Prince.  While this story seemed suspicious, a 
Haitian employee in PD confirmed that they were not 
northerners by their dress and accent.  A couple of migrants 
said that they passed close to Cuba to avoid USCG patrols and 
had nearly reached Florida before their engine broke down and 
they began to drift.  They received assistance from passing 
fisherman, who then reported the contact to the Royal 
Bahamian Defense Force.  Because they were in shallow water 
on the Grand Bahama Bank, the Coast Guard employed multiple 
assets to direct the boat to deeper water where the 
passengers could be offloaded.  The Confidence dropped the 
migrants at Killick Naval Base in Port-au-Prince on June 1, 
where the Haitian Coast Guard and the Office of National 
Migration processed them and gave them lunch, travel money 
(400 Gourdes, app. 10 dollars each) and t-shirts that read 
(Embassy informal translation): "Do not risk your life by 
getting on a migrant boat.  You will never make it." 
 
Medical Cases -- 
 
3.   Four migrants were evaluated and treated for medical 
concerns.  One of the migrants was near death due to 
dehydration at the time of the interdiction.  By June 1, he 
had responded to intravenous fluids and was eating a little. 
However, he remained extremely weak and the Haitian Coast 
Guard called an ambulance for him upon his arrival.  A second 
man was suffering from elephantitis.  The internal stitches 
of a third man, who reported sustaining a gunshot wound in 
April, appeared to be coming out of his skin.  Lastly, a 
woman had taken to sea with her husband and five children, 
while eight months pregnant.  Her husband, himself previously 
repatriated via Guantanamo Bay in 1998, said that they will 
not try again, as it is too dangerous. 
 
Hard Cases -- 
 
4.   One migrant of note was Jean Milor Dare, a Haitian 
National Police officer who was a member of the Palace 
Security Unit before he departed.  He stated that he asked 
for leave to return to his home of Les Cayes, then paid for 
passage aboard the vessel.  Five migrants had been placed in 
shackles by the time they arrived in Port-au-Prince. 
Commander John Fitzgerald, Captain of the Confidence, 
reported that one man refused to follow instructions from the 
outset, but the rest simply appeared frustrated at the length 
of their voyage.  Some migrants complained of being poorly 
fed. 
 
5.   This group of migrants was somewhat atypical.  After 
almost two weeks at sea, the migrants looked very weary, and 
some stated that they would not attempt the voyage again. 
The journey from the southern coast of Haiti is much longer 
and more difficult than from the northern coast.  It appeared 
as if this group was much more of a communal effort, and a 
couple of them said that they only charged outsiders such as 
the HNP officer. END COMMENT. 
FOLEY