March 2, 2004
With the departure from Haiti of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Sunday, February 29, the chaos of the past few
weeks has resulted in a still worsening humanitarian crisis. Just a
decade after U.S. troops helped restore Mr. Aristide to office, his
departure now requires a major intervention of the international
community to prevent the country from continuing to descend into deeper
chaos.
Until now, roadblocks had prevented transport of
food and other needed goods, raising the specter of growing hunger in
this poorest country in the hemisphere. Even now, the looting of food
warehouses, as well as of stores, banks and other institutions, has
intensified the already grave humanitarian crisis. Catholic Relief
Services and other humanitarian relief agencies in the country have
suffered considerable losses of food stocks and vehicles. The lack of an
adequate, trained civilian police force requires the immediate presence
of an international peace-keeping force to provide security for the
populace in general and specifically for the delivery of essential
foods.
The country's Catholic bishops have repeatedly
called on all the relevant actors "to take a personal, courageous and
patriotic decision to avoid an irreparable catastrophe." The retired
archbishop of Cap-Haitien and president of the newly formed Bishops'
Commission for Peace and Reconciliation, Archbishop Francois Gayot, sees
in the creation of that commission a "sign of hope," whereby the bishops
seek to "remind all Haitians of certain fundamental values and to point
out, at the same time, the ways for achieving peace and reconciliation."
We call on our government and the international
community urgently to increase the provision and deployment of armed
peace-keeping forces throughout the country. We also urge that the
safety and well-being of all refugees intercepted by U.S. authorities be
assured, that appropriate processing of their claims for asylum be
provided, and that Haitians who are living in the United States be
afforded Temporary Protected Status rather than deported into the chaos,
uncertainty and peril that awaits them in Haiti.
In this Lenten season of prayer and penance, we
ask the faithful to join in prayer for peace and reconciliation for the
long-suffering people of Haiti.
