Speech #1020136118

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 3444. the Haitian Refugee Protection Act. I am a cosponsor of this measure not because I was asked to be by any interest group. but rather because it would be unconscionable not to be an advocate of this measure. The Bush administration argues that those Haitian refugees who have been forcibly returned to Haiti are not subject to persecution and are only economic refugees. They claim that the United States Embassy staff is monitoring the human rights situation in Haiti and particularly the safety of those individuals we have repatriated. But we have very few resources and personnel in Haiti to even attempt the task. In light of Amnesty Internationals documentation that Haitians are leaving for the Dominican Republic and Cuba In the tens of thousands. countries hardly known for their prosperity. it is ludicrous to honestly assert that these relugees are leaving only for economic reasons. More than 15.000 Haitians have fled since the bloody coup which overthrew President Aristides government. As the refugees attempted to escape their country on rickety boats. the State Department Intercepted them in International waters and began the prescreening questioning for asylum in the United States. Questioning such individuals. still dazed and dehydrated from being at sea and on board a Coast Guard ship heading back to PortauPrince. is clearly not a fair screening process. The administration argues that the vast majority of the Haitian refugees have left their homeland because of the economic conditions there. But the fact is that the returnees are being photographed and lingerprinted by the Haitian military regime when they disembark from United States boats. Such monitoring suggests a desire by the military authorities to continue some kind surveillance of the refugees upon their return to Haiti. Given the brutality of the Haitian military authorities. It Is not difficult to imagine that this surveillance is political in nature and conceivably will result in renewed persecution.