Only 41 migrants were rescued by Haitian Coast Guard
Haiti International Organization for Migration IOM’s Chief of Mission Grégoire Goodstein stated “Haiti’s socio-economic situation is in agony. The extreme violence over the past months only brought Haitians to take sea as the last resort and that is to desperate measures even more.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – According to the formal announcement from the Haiti International Organization for Migration (IOM) office on Friday July 19th 2024, only a 41-migrant survived from a fire caught up a boat which carried over 80 migrants on July 17th 2024.
In the statement the International Organization for Migration declared that only 41 people were rescued by the Haitian Coast Guard and received medical care, food, water, and psychosocial support provided by both IOM and National Office for Migration (ONM). In addition, eleven of the casualties were taken to the nearest hospital to receive a sufficient medical treatment for burns and aftermath accident.
“This is a devastating situation highlights the risks are taken by children, women, and men migrating through illegal routes. It also shows the desperate need for the safety and legal pathways for migration.” IOM’s chief of mission in the country Grégoire Goodstein said.
“Haiti’s socio-economic situation is in agony. The extreme violence over the past months only brought Haitians to take sea as the last resort and that is to desperate measures even more.” He revealed.
The Haitian Coast Guard, in the north, noticed the number of the attempts to flee by boats were getting higher. Coast Guards of bordering countries including the United States, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Jamaica, also reported an increasing number of boats from Haiti, in spite of being ensnared in the sea.
According to the latest IMO researches, many asylum seekers forced to return, including unaccompanied children as well as pregnant and nursing women. They went back to Haiti with extreme vulnerability.
The researches approved that returnees urgently need humanitarian assistance after witnessing horrendous health and safety issues during their journeys.
The updating sources confirmed more than 86,000 asylums were forced to return to Haiti by neighboring countries this year. Since February and March 2024, despite of the raising violence that led to airports closure all over the country, forced returns increased by 46 per cent.
IOM is concerned about the high number of forced returns of Haitians during this current period of civil unrest and instability. It believed forcibly returned must take place in a human dignified way.
