Refugees from Haiti arriving in Brazil

Haitians have been entering Brazil illegally from Bolívia and Peru
(in other words, somehow they are traveling from the Caribbean to the
other side of South America and then somehow making their way hundreds
of kilometers inland in order to come into Brazil through Acre, the
country’s most western state). Therefore it is not surprising that the
Acre secretary of Justice and Human Rights, Nilson Mourão, says most of
them arrive exhausted and psychologically wrecked by the long voyage.
Mourão says the Haitians are being exploited (physically, financially
and even sexually) in Bolivia and Peru by the people responsible for
this illegal underground railroad (known as coyotes – “coiotes”). The
secretary says he has documented evidence of abuses but can do nothing
as it happens in another country. Reportedly the Haitians pay between
$1,000 and $1,500 to be taken to the border with Acre. Most of them
arrive in the Bolivian city of Cobija and cross into the Brazilian city
of Brasileia.

At the moment there are officially 1,250 illegal Haitians in the border
town of Brasileia. “Psychologically they arrive as basket cases,” says
secretary Mourão, “and many are sick with disease, as well.” The state
simply does not have the necessary resources to deal with so many people
with such dire problems, says the secretary. Mourão observes slyly that
there are now more illegal Haitians in his state than there are
Brazilian soldiers in Haiti as part of the UN stabilization mission.

[background note: Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake exactly two
years ago, January 2010. Just another setback in a very long tragic
history that made it into the history books with the arrival of Columbus
in 1492. Within 25 years the native Taino Amerindian population had
been decimated. In 1697, the Spanish ceded the French the western third
of the island of Hispaniola that later became Haiti. With an economy
based exclusively on slave labor and mindless exploitation of natural
resources, Haiti became the richest colony in history, producing half
the world’s coffee and a third of its sugar. But this was possible only
by harshly exploiting human resources as well, as the planter-rulers
preferred to work their slaves to death (which happened in ten to
fifteen years) and buy new ones as it was cheaper. The result was
history’s largest slave rebellion beginning in 1791 and finally ending
in Haitian independence in 1804. At a terrible price. Haiti had to fight
to stay independent three times: first, against the planter-rulers and
French soldiers, armed by the United States, where George Washington and
Thomas Jefferson, president and secretary of state, respectively, and
both slave-owners, were appalled by the slave revolution; second,
against the British who were trying to take advantage of momentary
French disadvantage to gain control of the rich colony, its fertile
lands and slave labor force; finally, the Haitians faced Napoleon, eager
to recapture the colony and restore slavery. Gaining independence cost
Haiti around half of its population – many died, of course, but many
fled the country as well – and left the economy (fields, mills and
towns) in ruins. The United States and the European powers were deeply
disturbed by the successful slave revolt in Haiti. The specter of free
slaves haunted them so much that the United States only recognized Haiti
in 1854; before that, in 1825, the French made the Haitians pay for the
freedom they had won on the battlefield: payments that for years
gobbled up close to 30% of the new government’s revenues. It is not
surprising that the 200 years of Haitian independence have been marked
by violence, with most governments operating on the principle of
military force. And so it is not surprising that some Haitians are so
desperate they are arriving in Brazil via Acre.