To be sure. a succession of repressive or inept governments in Haiti has been the main cause of that countrys current economic disarray. Nonetheless. we Americans. by our military and financial intervention in their domestic affairs. have incurred an obligation which we have failed to carry out. These refugees are. in a very real sense. fleeing from the effects of our Haitian failure. and now. even in our own country. we have still not opened wide the doors of opportunity to them. I call upon the President. in the name 10488 cc of his own human rights policy. to order the same welcome and generous treatment for the Haitian refugee that he has ordered for the Cubans. An old Haitian Creole proverb says: "It makes no sense to wash your hands and then dry them in the dirt." Paraphrased. it applies to the refugee case: "It makes no sense to crusade for human rights and ignore the need on your very doorstep." Another Creole proverb says: "The pencil of God has no eraser." our failure to help these needy persons will remain a blot on our national conscience. I include in the RECORD an article on the Haitian refugee problem which appeared in the May 7. 1980. edition of the Washington Star. [From the Washington Star. May 7. 19801
Keywords matched
refugee refugees