Port-au-Prince, Jul 19 (EFE).- At least 40 Haitian migrants have died and several more were injured after the boat they were travelling on caught fire off Cap-Haïtien in northern Haiti, after setting sail with more than 80 people for the Turks and Caicos Islands on a 250-kilometer journey, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Friday.
“This devastating incident highlights the risks faced by children, women and men who migrate through irregular channels, demonstrating the crucial need for safe and legal migration routes,” said Grégoire Goodstein, IOM Chief of Mission in the country, in the statement.
Last Wednesday, the boat with more than 80 people had left Labadee bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the National Migration Office (ONM), but the fire prevented them from continuing their journey.
Among the migrants on board, at least 41 were rescued alive by the Haitian coast guard and are currently receiving medical care, food, water and psychosocial support provided by IOM, the statement said.
Among them, eleven migrants were taken to the nearest hospital for treatment, including burns.
Haiti’s socio-economic situation is in a state of crisis, Goodstein said, stressing that the extreme violence of recent months “has only spurred Haitians to resort to even more desperate measures.”
The lack of economic opportunities, the collapse of the health system, the closure of schools and the absence of prospects are leading many people to see emigration as the only way to survive, he added.
For the vast majority of Haitians, regular migration is an extremely difficult journey to contemplate, so many consider these clandestine journeys as their only option, “a particularly life-threatening option in most cases,” recalls the IOM.
Since February 29, the Haitian coast guard in the north has observed an increase in the number of attempts and departures by boat.
Coast guards in countries in the region, including the United States, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Jamaica, have also reported increasing numbers of boats originating from Haiti.
Last month alone, US immigration authorities reported the arrival of at least 118 Haitian migrants on a sailing freighter in Key West, one of the islands of the Florida Keys at the southern tip of the United States. EFE
