It’s fortunate that there were no injuries or fatalities during the smuggling operation, says a US official.
356 Haitian refugees have been picked up by a stranded ship off the coast of Florida. Despite rough seas, 158 of them jumped overboard on Sunday and tried to swim to shore, the US Customs and Border Protection Agency said on Monday (local time). They were rescued from the water, given medical care and then taken into custody by US border guards. Deportation procedures are being prepared.
The other 198 migrants were disembarked by the US Coast Guard. They are also to be returned to Haiti.
Abject poverty, gang violence and political chaos reign in Haiti. At the beginning of July 2021, President Jovenel Moïse was shot dead in his residence. Thousands of Haitian migrants are trying to get to the US.
A US official said it was fortunate there were no injuries or fatalities in this smuggling operation. “The criminal organizations that overload these ships are sacrificing the safety of migrants for profit.”
(APA/dpa)