Inhumane Treatment of Haitians

 Senior career diplomat, Daniel Foote, US special envoy for Haiti has resigned in protest over the deportation of Haitian migrants which he described as “inhumane”.

Biden had begun the forced deportation of desperate Haitians from Texas-Mexican border, flying them to Haiti where they are unceremoniously abandoned on the runway.

“I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs to daily life,” Daniel Foote stated in his resignation letter. “Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.” 

Foote explained Haiti was a "collapsed state" that "simply cannot support the forced infusion of thousands of returned migrants lacking food, shelter, and money without additional, avoidable human tragedy".

Foote said Haitians needed "immediate assistance", and criticised the US and other countries for interfering in the country's politics.

"What our Haitian friends really want, and need, is the opportunity to chart their own course, without international puppeteering and favoured candidates but with genuine support for that course," he said.

The “collapsed” Haitian state “is unable to provide security or basic services and more refugees will fuel further desperation and crime”, Foote wrote in his resignation letter, complaining top State Department officials had dismissed or ignored his recommendations.

“Surging migration to our borders will only grow as we add to Haiti’s unacceptable misery,” Foote said.

“This is the first time we see a U.S. diplomat who has decided to go against the will of the U.S. government,” Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s election minister, told The Associated Press. “We salute that.” Pierre also criticized Haiti’s elite, saying they have turned a blind eye because migration fuels the economy. He noted that 35% of Haiti’s gross domestic product is remittances, with the diaspora sending roughly $3.8 billion a year.

“While they’re receiving thousands of Afghan people, they’re rejecting Haitians while Haiti is in the middle of a crisis: a crisis with the earthquake, a crisis with the assassination of the president and a poverty crisis that is clearly one of the major issues why people are leaving,” Pierre said.