The United States Coast Guard Cutter Diligence crew repatriated 182 people to Haiti last week after an interdiction south of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
According to a Coast Guard release, the repatriated individuals were aboard a disabled migrant vessel.
“Hurricane season is an especially dangerous time for unlawful maritime migration,” said Lt. Nicholas Fujimoto, a Coast Guard District Seven enforcement officer.
“The Coast Guard is proactively monitoring the maritime approaches to the U.S. and international waters of the Caribbean to prevent the tragic loss of life at sea,” he observed.
“Makeshift vessels are unseaworthy and incapable of handling the rougher seas caused by unpredictable weather and tropical storms,” Fujimoto stated.
In addition, the United States Coast Guard has warned that migrants interdicted at sea or apprehended ashore will not be allowed to stay in the United States or a U.S. territory.
It said anyone who arrives unlawfully may be declared ineligible for legal immigration options and be repatriated to their country of origin or returned to their country of departure, consistent with U.S. law, policies, and international treaty obligations.
The recent repatriation of illegal migrants to Haiti came amid months of violence in the Caribbean nation.
The violence has caused a deterioration of Haiti’s humanitarian crisis, forcing citizens to flee for their lives.
According to the United Nations, displacement has tripled in the last year in Haiti as gang violence continues to rock the Caribbean island nation, with nearly 600,000 people on the run.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that in the first seven months of the year, countries in the region deported nearly 100,000 people to Haiti.
PHOTO: Stock image
