Speech #1020113879

Mr. President. I rise today to condemn the forcible repatriation of 1.800 Haitian refugees to Haiti. The State Department decision to return the refugees is a moral outrage and one that deserves severe condemnation. To return these helpless refugees is an unconscionable and deplorable act. The continuing climate of obscene violence in Haiti makes their return equal to a sentence of death. How can we throw these innocent Haitians back into the Haitian dungeon? How can we return these people to a nation that we refuse to even recognize? We have rightfully clamped sanctions on the illegal military junta of Haiti. yet we return refugees there who have a wellplaced fear for their lives. There Is clearly a discrepancy in our policy. Our actions seem startlingly similiary to the forced repatriation of the Vietnamese boat people by the British authorities in Hong Kong. We must always stand up for those who flee totalitarianism for the shores of democracy. I deplore the forced return of the Haitian refugees. This reprehensible act must end immediately.*