By Roy Sanford, Freelance Writer
A photo of some of the 116 illegal Haitian immigrants who sailed into Trelawny Sunday. Some of the
immigrants are anxious to know whether or not they will receive political asylum in Jamaica. - Richard Morais
WESTERN BUREAU:
TWO DAYS after more than 100 Haitians washed ashore in Falmouth, Trelawny, they are complaining that they are being kept in the dark about their fate.
The Haitians apparently want information on applying for political asylum in Jamaica but the authorities have not yet begun to assess them.
It remains unclear how many Haitians landed in Falmouth, despite repeated attempts to count them.
The leader of the group told The Gleaner on Sunday that 116 persons were on board the boat. However, the medical officers who examined them said that their records showed 131 persons.
Dr. Roa Pormada, Medical Officer of Health for Trelawny, said that based on his records there were 131 boat people.
But a preliminary head count yesterday found 125 persons from the boat in premises being used as a half-way house on the hospital grounds and another two persons on the ward.
In order to clear up the doubts and verify their number, the doctors have decided to tag the Haitians but up to press time yesterday, they had not begun the process.
Many of the refugees are bewailing the fact that neither the Jamaican nor Haitian authorities had spoken to them about their future. "The people are getting restless," a leader of the group told The Gleaner. "They don't know what is going to happen to them and the uncertainty is driving them crazy."
One of the Haitians was able to converse with the Haitian Ambassador in Jamaica, Ray-mond Valcin, but he said that the Ambassador did not tell him anything substantial. "He only said that someone from the Embassy will be coming here to assess the situation on Tuesday," the Haitian said. "He also said he understands our situation and nothing more after that."
He also said he only wanted to know whether he could apply for political asylum in Jamaica.
Patrick Isidore, assistant to the Haitian Ambassador, told The Gleaner that only the Jamaican Government had the final say on the granting of asylum. "Right now it is too early to say anything," he said. "Someone from the Embassy will be going down to Falmouth to assess the situation and based on that assessment, we will move on from there."
The group of men, women and children came ashore in a 35-foot fishing boat on Sunday morning after being at sea for about five days. They said they were fleeing political instability and economic hardship in their homeland.
