QIFD is partnering with WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) to research and write a case study on the Haitian experience of receiving deportees from the United States.

QIFD is partnering with WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) to research and write a case study on the Haitian experience of receiving deportees from the United States. The United States has undertaken a policy of repatriating Haitian individuals who are contravening the law in the United States. The flow of deportees has been a controversial issue, particularly in Haiti. Since 2000, Human Rights organizations have pointed to fact that many deportees constitute a threat for public security in Haiti. This concern has been even more acute from 2004 onward; particularly in the context of the wide spread development of criminal activities and the emergence of a recent social phenomenon in Haiti: armed groups commonly referred to as gangs. Many voices expressed concern that certain types of deportees who were involved in criminal activities in the US are directly involved in the development of violence and gang related activities in Haiti. There are many saying that there is a direct relation between deportees and the issue of public security in Haiti. But the link between the deportees, in particular the rise in criminal activities and the organization of violence is not well documented. The second most important issue that is also raised in relation to deportation of Haitian individuals by the US Government has to do with the capacity of the Haitian government and the Haitian society to deal with the influx of this particular group of individuals.

We will gather primary source data from the police, national prison system, international organizations and other sources to inform its analysis of the criminal behavior of the deportee population before and after repatriation to Haiti as well as the socio-economic-cultural characteristics of the deportee population. 

QIFD will also conduct a small survey of deportees who are incarcerated to inform this analysis.  QIFD will conduct a rapid assessment of the policy and mechanisms set up by the Haitian government and/or supported by the International Organization of Migration (OIM) to treat the deportee cases; in particular in the area of reinsertion of deportees who were involved in criminal activities in the U.S.  QIFD will attempt to document the flow of information from the U.S. government to the Haitian government.  QIFD will provide copies (or cite online source) of relevant data and reports.