THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100335
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Hundreds of Haitians were returned to their homeland against their wishes Monday aboard U.S. Coast Guard vessels after American soldiers threatened to send them in handcuffs if they refused.
Haitians said they fear returning home because of reports of reprisals by gunmen supporting the ousted military regime against refugees returning from exile or hiding. But they are going peacefully anyway under the U.S. forced repatriation program.
``We've had no violence,'' said Maj. Rick Thomas, a spokesman for the Joint Task Force for the Cuban and Haitian refugees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. ``We've had to pull some people out of their tents and made people get packing and get on the bus, but there have been no incidents.''
A subtler method was used Monday, when 375 Haitians were told to report for interviews with U.S. immigration officials, then marched immediately afterward onto two Coast Guard cutters, the Vigil and the Mohawk, with no notice.
``They're pretty calm,'' said Ralf Gruenert, the head of the United Nations Task Force for Haitian refugees at Guantanamo. ``I think they've been waiting for this.''
In less than a week, most of the remaining 2,700 Haitian refugees at the sprawling tent city will be in Haiti, down from a peak of 21,000 in August.
The October reinstallation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the continued presence of thousands of U.S. troops in Haiti rob refugees of a strong argument for political asylum, in the eyes of U.S. officials. by CNB