ARTICLE - HAITIANS DECRY MISTREATMENT

HAITIANS DECRY MISTREATMENT OF YOUNG SOCCER TEAM BY JAMAICA
(Miami Herald) - By Jacqueline Charles

Thousands march Saturday in Port-au-Prince to denounce Jamaica's removal of Haiti's youth soccer team. 'What happened to these young men could happen to any one of us,' a marcher said.

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Angry over the treatment of their children by a Caribbean neighbor, they came out by the thousands – young and old, rich and poor, artists and athletes.

For three hours Saturday, they braved the sweltering heat, singing, dancing and walking shoulder-to-shoulder in an unusual display of Haitian solidarity to protest what they are calling Jamaica’s discriminatory and humiliating treatment of Haiti’s Under-17 soccer players during a World Cup qualifying tournament in Montego Bay.

“What happened to these young men could happen to anyone of us. We are here to send a response to Jamaica: They have people to defend them,’’ said Jenel Saint-Jean, 31.

According to Dr. Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, the team was forced to withdraw from the competition after Jamaican authorities were pressured to send them home because several members became ill with a fever that was later determined to be malaria.

Jean-Bart, a medical doctor, said the problems began as soon as the delegation of 28 arrived in Montego Bay on Feb. 3. The players were immediately subjected to medical screenings at the airport. Days later, two of the players came down with malaria. After Bart visited a local pharmacy to get medication, Jamaican authorities showed up in the team’s locker room with a medical brigade and armed security, he said.

After more tests and visits, the Haitian team was told that everyone would have to undergo testing. Bart said team members were later placed in quarantine and armed guards “blocked the exit’’ preventing team members from leaving.

“They didn’t give them food. They couldn’t sleep and they were guarded by armed guards,’’ he said.

“It was so urgent for them to get rid of us that they chartered an airplane that had 176 seats, all the way from Washington, D.C., to Montego Bay to come get us,’’ he said. The delegation had 28 members. Bart said he believes Jamaican authorities reacted the way they did because they believed the players had cholera.

In protest, the Haitian government recalled its Charge d’Affairs to Jamaica, Max Alcé, back to Haiti.

Jamaica said it regretted the team’s withdrawal and the nation’s minister of foreign affairs, Kenneth Baugh, said the incident was a “serious misunderstanding.’’

The Jamaican government confirmed that its ministry of health recommended that the Haitian soccer team leave the island.

“The decision was unavoidable and necessary in order to safeguard public health,’’ the government said in a press statement.

“Officials of the Ministry of Health made every effort to ensure that the members of the Haitian contingent were attended to in accordance with the health protocols in effect in Jamaica. Care was taken to provide meals for those in quarantine, both at the hospital and in the hotel where they were registered.’’

But marchers, including Alix Jean-Baptiste, Haiti’s former minister of Haitians Living Abroad, said there was no misunderstanding.

He called for a boycott of all Jamaican products, both in Haiti and elsewhere.

“They incarcerated these boys because they were afraid they were going to spread some virus. It’s incredible,’’ said Jean-Baptiste, draped in an oversized Haitian flag as he marched. “We should stand up and say enough is enough.’’

“When you say Haiti, it equals disease,’’ he added. “We have to show the world we are alive. We are on our knees but we are going to stand up soon.’’

That message resonated throughout the hours-long march, which was organized by Petionville restaurant owner Marguerite Rigaud.

“I could not believe that a fellow Caribbean country would have this attitude toward us,’’ Rigaud said.

Rigaud and others stressed that the march was nonpolitical. However, for some there was a larger message. For weeks, the winds of nationalism have been brewing in Haiti over what some say is the “over interference of the international community’’ in Haiti’s internal affairs after the disputed Nov 28 elections. Foreign diplomats, for instance. have publicly criticized President René Préval, triggering criticism that they are trying to dictate Haiti’s future.

“Jamaica was the final nail, where we just had to say enough is enough,’’ said Daly Valet, executive editor of Le Matin newspaper and one of the marchers. “We want to see a new kind of relationship with the international community. What is happening now is just unacceptable.’’

Hours after marchers began their journey at the downtown post-earthquake homeless encampment in front of the broken presidential palace, they finally arrived at their destination: the walled compound of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) headquarters.

Standing in silence as Haiti’s national anthem played, they waved their flags in the air before a booming voice asked Caribbean officials to deliver this message to Jamaica, which does not have an embassy in Haiti, on the country’s behalf.

“This is a country with a rich history,” announcer Leslie Alphonse said. “And while Haiti may not have much, it fought for what it has and it should be respected,” he added.