- Title: Haitian migrants return home from Chile
- Date: 8th November 2018
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (NOVEMBER 7, 2018) (REUTERS) CHILEAN AIR FORCE AIRPLANE CARRYING RETURNING HAITIAN MIGRANTS ON TARMAC PILOT SEEN IN COCKPIT WINDOW CHILEAN AIR FORCE AIRPLANE HAITIAN MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING FROM PLANE MIGRANTS' LUGGAGE MAN WITH PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) UNIDENTIFIED RETURNED HAITIAN MIGRANT, SAYING: "We Haitians are the most humiliated because there are foreigners (in Chile) other than us, but they (Chilean authorities) decided to make an airplane available for us to return. So, those (Haitians) that didn't work, that couldn't do anything, voluntarily returned. In any case, there's no place where you can't die." PEOPLE LOADING LUGGAGE INTO VEHICLE VARIOUS, PEOPLE WITH LUGGAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Creole) UNIDENTIFIED HAITIAN, SAYING: "Haiti is no good, neither is the government. (Chile) is a good country, there are normal structures there. If there were security here in my country, I'd never spend 3,000 U.S. dollars to go to Chile. I would have invested it in my home." VARIOUS, PEOPLE LOADING LUGGAGE INTO VEHICLE HAITIAN FLAG
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2018 02:57
- Keywords: migrants immigration emigration refugees asylum repatriation Chile Haiti
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- City: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00195N8MRR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Chile returned a plane-load of Haitian immigrants to their native country on Wednesday (November 7) in the first in a series of "humanitarian flights" criticised by migrant groups as "forced deportations."
A Chilean Air Force aircraft arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Wednesday (November 7) after carrying 176 people from Santiago, Chile.
A total of 1,087 people have signed up for the flights back to Haiti, the Chilean interior ministry said in a statement.
Around 150,000 Haitians have immigrated to Chile in the past two years, it said.
The initiative is one of several measures by the centre-right government of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera to cut migrant numbers.
It requires those leaving to sign a declaration that they will not return for nine years, and asks they take any immediate family with them.
The government said the policy was aimed at those who had struggled to find work in one of Latin America's richest economies, in some cases having been lured by people traffickers with false promises.
But the policy has generated controversy among some migrant groups, rights campaigners and academics. Haiti is still one of the world's poorest countries, blighted by natural disasters, political upheaval and poor security.
The National Platform of Haitian Organisations in Chile, which represents 30 separate refugee groups, said on Wednesday that the flights represented "an enforced deportation of people" and accused Chile's government of adopting "racist" policies.
Chile's interior ministry rejected allegations of racism and deportation, saying "assisted voluntary returns" are supported by the United Nations. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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