For this reason. I urge you. Madam Speaker. and all of our colleagues to support legislation to grant temporary protected status to Haitians until such time as the democratically elected government is restored. The way to do that is for us to join together to see that that embargo works and that it works across the board. and that our allies are not allowed to be allies unless they fulfill their obligations as allies. The least that these people can expect from us is the temporary protected status that should be granted to anyone seeking freedom under the condition that the Haitians face today. Madam Speaker. I have with me a r.opy of todays Washington Post which shows the photograph of one of the initial Haitian returnees being fingerprinted by Haitian police. Do we know the current status of this Individual? It Is a fact. Madam Speaker. that these refugees face torture and execution upon their return. The administrations decision to forcibly return Haitians fleeing an illegal military dictatorship contravenes all the principles of human rights. Furthermore. this policy violates the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980. articles 13 and 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. and article 33(1) of the U.N. Refugee Convention and Protocol whlch--"prohiblts the return of a refugee in any manner whatsoever" to a place where his/her life would be threatened. Madam Speaker. sending these refugees back to Haiti will not solve the grave situation which exists in Haiti today. Thousands of people are in hiding. Torture. arbitrary arrests. and extrajudicial executions are being committed by security forces of the military.
Keywords matched
Refugee refugee temporary protected status refugees