Jamaica’s Haitian refugee problem continued to grow yesterday with the arrival of another 47 boat people, 20 days after Kingston appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for help.

The latest arrivals pushed to 538, the number of Haitians who have arrived here since February at the height of a bloody insurrection that culminated with the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Aristide has been in Jamaica since March 15 on a 10-week stay. He is expected to leave the island soon for South Africa which last week offered him a temporary home.

Yesterday, the 47 Haitians arrived in two small boats at Panton’s Hope on Jamaica’s east coast at about 6:30 am and were taken to the Fair Prospect Health Centre for medical processing.

Authorities said they would be transferred to the Winnifred Rest Home in Portland where 127 other Haitian refugees are living.

Some refugees have already been moved to a Government-built facility in Montpelier, St James.

Two children – a six year-old boy and a three year-old girl – as well as three women are among the 47 new arrivals.

“When they came in they appeared to be in good physical condition, except for one who was feeling ill,” Sergeant Pauline Wood, who is in charge of the Castle Police Station, told the Observer.

According to Sergeant Wood, the Haitians, who were guided to shore by Jamaican fishermen, said that they left Haiti last Friday.

Last month, after Jamaica’s appeal for help to cope with the refugee problem, Foreign Minister K D Knight said that the Government was expecting financial support from the UNHCR by the end of April.