rrests lists, oliti-
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imited and
Human ed its sions:
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108. The first major wave in an otherwise unremarkable mi- gration from Haiti occurred after the election in 1957 of François Duvalier, the father of the present President, whose repressive methods became known well beyond the confines of his island. Those who left then were members of the middle classes who had no economic mobility in the feudal order of that period doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, other professionals and broad segments of the urban middle class. The more recent migratory wave consists mainly of simple peasants, whose position has become untenable because their livelihood has been eliminated in the expropriation of huge areas of land by the large-scale mechanized plantations increasingly trans- forming the face of the island. Becoming as destitute as many other homeless people around
people around the world, they despair both of finding any other place in the economy of a country geared to the needs of a privileged few or of improving their lot through education. 5/ In their minds, the risk of crossing 800 miles of ocean in frail craft may seem a small one to find a life of physical and economic security and of normal human dignity.
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109. The US Government, deciding to apply criteria of eligi- bility based on the 1951 Geneva Convention, finds that rela- tively few Haitians qualify for asylum. (Cf. "Current Policy No 191 Haitian Migration to the U.S." issued by the United States Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs, Washington D.C.)
As mentioned earlier in connection with the Cuban exodus, US Immigration created in June 1980 a new category of "Cuban-Haitian Entrant" - a year in which arrivals totalled some 25 000. On 30 September 1981, with the justification that the
the Haitians' entry was "detrimental to the interests of the United States", the administration gave powers to the US coastguard to stop Haitian boats
stop Haitian boats on the high seas, board them and turn back passengers not in possession of visas nor equip- ped with a proper reason for wanting to enter the United States in the form of either proof of actual political persecution by the Government of Haiti or the fear that such persecution would start as soon as the individual went back.
110.
Haitians arriving in the United States are sent to deten- tion centres unless they possess visas to join relatives already resettled there, and their Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) processing takes place. Those not considered eligible for permanent entry to the United States are liable to be sent back to Haiti.