- Title: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kelly in Haiti for talks with Moise
- Date: 1st June 2017
- Summary: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (MAY 31, 2017) (REUTERS) PEOPLE AND CARS ON ROAD HAITIAN FLAG WAVING U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY, JOHN KELLY, WITH HAITIAN PRESIDENT, JOVENEL MOISE, AND ANOTHER OFFICIAL KELLY SEATED NEXT TO MOISE (SOUNDBITE) (French) HAITIAN PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE, SAYING: "With the presence of Secretary Kelly, we are working to see what will happen after six months. I can say eight months because we are in May and the extension (of the Temporary Protected Status) is until January 2018. There is a law in Washington. It is a law that should be voted on between September and October. We are waiting for the vote, to see if it is positive or negative. We are going to look into the possibility that the United States could offer Haiti an extension of up to 18 months." MOISE SPEAKING TO KELLY (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY, JOHN KELLY, SAYING: "I committed to the President and the government, that we can work together as we go forward on any future extension." U.S. FLAG AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) HAITIAN PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE, SAYING: "We are working with the American government to attract private American investment and to exit development aid. That is of great importance to us." MONUMENT IN CAPITAL VEHICLE AND PEOPLE IN AREA OF CAPITAL WITH RUBBISH ON THE GROUND WOMAN CARRYING MELONS IN BASKET ON HER HEAD TRUCK DRIVING PAST STREET STALLS LOCAL STREET STALL PEOPLE AND VEHICLES ON ROAD WITH COLOURFUL BUILDING IN THE BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 15th June 2017 01:56
- Keywords: Haiti Port-au-Prince U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly President Jovenel Moise
- Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- City: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
- Country: Haiti
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J66OO5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was in Haiti on Wednesday (May 31) for talks with President Jovenel Moise, a week after the American government agreed to extend the authorisations of Haitians working in the United States.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decided to allow the more than 50,000 victims of Haiti's 2010 earthquake to remain in the United States with work authorisations until January 2018.
However, sources close to the U.S. government have reported that Kelly believes conditions are improving in the Caribbean nation and that Haitians under what is known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) should begin acquiring travel documents to return to Haiti.
With remittances from the United States reportedly making up 25% of Haitian GDP, any exodus of Haitian citizens from the U.S. could hit the local economy hard.
Talk over the TPS also comes as the UN's 13-year-long peacekeeping mission in Haiti winds up in the country.
President Moise hopes that an increase in private investment into the country will help it become more self-sufficient.
Some seven years after its debilitating earthquake, Haiti remains vulnerable to natural disasters and a weak economy has left many still under the poverty line. It remains the poorest country in the Americas with a reported GDP of $846 per capita. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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