SVG hosting Haitian refugees

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is hosting two Haitian refugees.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves disclosed this on Sunday, at the Unity Labour Party’s 12th National Convention.

The Prime Minister said the two refugees who had worked for the Lavallas party were kept in a colony and were about to be returned to “certain death” in Haiti when he intervened and asked the leader of that colony to send them to St.Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

“We quietly accepted two refugees from Haiti,” said Dr.Gonsalves.

“They have been here for over a year,” Dr. Gonsalves revealed.

In February 2004 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted as president of Haiti. The country was thrown into further disarray with an exodus of Haitians fleeing to several neighbouring islands.

But hope came for thousands of Haitains last week Thursday, February 16, when Rene Preval, a protégé of Aristide, was announced as the new Haitian President eight days after the February 7 vote.

Blank ballots were redistributed among the presidential candidates, giving Preval just enough votes to avoid a runoff with second-placed finisher Leslie Manigat.