Haitians at the Montpelier Camp in St James listen to the news that they will have to go home. (Photo: Mark Cummings)

THE Jamaican government last night told 281 Haitians, who had applied for refugee status here, that they do not qualify.

The Haitians came to Jamaica in rickety boats in an exodus that followed the violence in February that led to the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

They will now be sent back home. But with Haiti reeling from the floods caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne that left up to 2,000 people dead in the country, it was not clear last night when this would happen.

Yesterday, Gilbert Scott, the permanent secretary in the national security ministry, said the requests of the Haitians were denied because the applicants did not meet the criteria for refugee status as outlined in the United Nations Convention of 1951.

"It (the Convention) speaks to the consideration that would determine whether someone qualifies for refugee status, particularly whether the individual would be in any danger as a result of political involvement and various forms of affiliations...," Scott explained.

The first set of Haitian boat people landed along sections of Jamaica's south-eastern coast on February 14. The numbers later swelled to more than 500. There were six births while they were housed in camps in St James and Portland.

When the violence calmed in Haiti after Aristide's ouster and the installation of the interim administration led by Gerard Latortue, 279 Haitians asked to be sent back home. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) along with the International Office for Migration helped defray the expense of airline tickets.

But others, some of whom have steadily insisted that they will be harmed if they return home, had held out the hope that they would be allowed to stay. But from as far back as July, Information Minister Burchell Whiteman had stressed that the screening process would examine issues such as whether the requests were based on political or economic pressures, and whether the applicant's personal safety was at stake.

The news that all the applications had been denied was delivered, shortly after 6:00 pm, to the group at the Montpelier Camp in St James by a group of Jamaican officials that included Carol Charlton, senior director for immigration, citizenship and passport in the national security ministry; Paul Saunders, the national coordinator for the Jamaican government's Haitian crisis response; and the manager for the Montpelier camp, Melville Smith. They spoke through a creole interpreter.

More than 30 heavily-armed police officers were also present.

The Haitians received the news calmly. Some said they will exercise their right to appeal while others said they will go home. A list will be compiled, tomorrow, of those who have decided to appeal the decision, which was taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

"They have seven (working) days to indicate their intention to appeal and if they do, (appeal) then the ministry of foreign affairs will establish an Appeal Tribunal to hear their cases," Scott said.

During the hearing, he explained, applicants would be entitled to legal representation and would be given a chance to support their claim for refugee status. It was not clear whether the government will supply lawyers and whether the Haitians can utilise the services of the legal aid system.

Scott was unable to say when the Haitians would start leaving the island, saying that timetable would depend on the length of the appeal process.

"We are hoping to contact the UNHCR for help to send them back home but if we don't get that assistance, then it would have to be the responsibility of the government," he said.

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