THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 2, 1994 TAG: 9407020562
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The number of Haitian boat people picked up since processing began aboard a U.S. Navy hospital ship two weeks ago has passed the 5,000 mark, the State Department said Friday.
Coast Guard cutters picked up 1,081 on Thursday alone, suggesting that many Haitians are refusing to heed U.S. appeals that they not attempt to flee by boat.
State Department press officer David Johnson said a reported incident in which at least 30 migrants drowned Wednesday underscored the U.S. view that it's safer for Haitians to apply for refugee status at U.S. offices inside Haiti.
The 30 were among 200 who reportedly were knocked overboard after Haitian police fired warning shots at the boat.
``If these reports prove true, it would be but another example of the brutality of the Haitian de facto regime,'' Johnson said.
Of the more than 5,000 Haitians rescued by the Coast Guard, 1,111 had completed processing aboard the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, docked off Jamaica.
Of this figure 338 had been approved for refugee status; the remainder are being returned to Haiti.
Johnson said 1,939 Haitians have been taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo, Cuba, since the base was opened as a transit point for Haitian migrants earlier this week. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEFT: Several Haitian refugees pass barbed wire Friday at the
processing station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ABOVE: Having once been
returned to Haiti, a mother carries her child to a boat that may be
a step in a second attempt to flee the country.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB