Haiti needs support to avoid another US immigration crisis

The democracy and economy of Haiti need to be fortified to avoid a new flood of undocumented immigrants heading to the US, according to the President of Panama. President Juan Carlos Varela, urged fellow leaders during an interview yesterday at the United Nations General Assembly, to take an active interest in managing immigration rather than allow human traffickers to take over that responsibility.

Immigration from Haiti has increased because of instability in the island nation. Haitians, given refuge in Brazil after the earthquake in 2010, are now being sent to the north as the biggest economy in Latin America is now in recession. Panama is the gateway to Central America and the US, and Canada from South America, Varela has warned.

Varela says that attention needs to be paid to Haiti’s electoral process and to support its economy and institutions or people from Haiti will be responsible for the next immigration crisis in the US, rather than those from Mexico or Central America.

Border officials in the US are finding it difficult to house hundreds of immigrants from Haiti on a temporary basis due to a lack of space. The number of Haitian immigrants apprehended in southern Mexico is also increasing, indicating that the influx to the US could also increase when the immigrants begin to travel north. Around 3500 wannabe immigrants are currently held in refugee centers in Panama.