ARTICLE - DIASPORA - PERCEPTIONS - PERSPECTIVES

PERCEPTIONS AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE HOST COUNTRIES OF THE DIASPORA
(Haiti Libre) -

The week of activities organized around the National Day of the Diaspora, continued on Tuesday 17 April, with a panel on the perceptions and perspectives of the Ambassadors of foreign countries accredited in the country, vis-à-vis Haitian nationals.

This panel discussion at whom took part, Mr. Ruben Silié, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Haiti, Dominique Delpuech, First Counsellor, Embassy of France, Buti Kale, responsible of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCRH), Guy Alexander, representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), follows the first debate organized around migration, on Monday, April 16, 2012.

The representative of Didier Lebret in Haiti, Dominique Delpuech advocated the construction of a dialogue between the diaspora in France and the French authorities. It is estimated at about 50,000, the number of Haitians in France, but the first counselor believes that the correct figure far exceeds the estimations.

For his part, the head of the High Commissioner of the United Nations reports that his institution is working with people who have not voluntarily left the country. "We deal with stateless persons, refugees and migrants. When a problem happens in Haiti, it affects other Haitians," stresses Kale.

For his part, Ambassador Rubén Silié believes there are some changes in the Haitian configuration in the Dominican Republic. Decades before, the migration was composed of workers in search of a better life. Today they are everywhere; in construction, art,culture, and education.

Moreover, argues Silié, nobody foresaw the movement of Haitians to study in the Dominican Republic. Today, 7 to 8,000 compatriots are studying in Dominican universities. Currently, the Haitian community is no longer confined exclusively to the bateys.

According to the ambassador, the time of ethnic conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is over. The perception of Haitians in the Dominican Republic is changing positively, and quickly.

Mr. Guy Alexandre, last speaker in the panel, argues that "most of our migration to South America, the Caribbean and to a lesser extent, towards North America, is done in a irregular manner; in the majority of cases. The way our compatriots leave Haiti and enters into the host countries, he says, violates a number of laws on the issue."

IOM's mandate is to support States in a perspective of developing and implementing an orderly political management of migration flows for the benefit of migrants.