Ounaminthe

The United Nations emphasizes that Haiti is in a dire situation and now is not the time to deport Haitians. The majority of deportations take place from the Dominican Republic with neither due process nor advance notice to the Haitian authorities responsible for receiving them. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports 154,333 Haitians were expelled by the Dominican Republic last year - about 87% of all deportations to Haiti in 2022.  It is true that insecurity in Haiti affect the Dominican Republic as well - but conducting mass deportations only makes a bad situation worse - politically, economically, and for human rights. The full article by Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald follows. 

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently announced the approval of two grants for Haiti totaling US $90 million.  One grant is devoted to the development of an industrial park between Ounaminthe and Cap Haitian while the other is devoted to modernizing Haiti's energy sector.  This is worth noting as investment outside of Port au Prince is unfortunately still rare.  The IDP's support for the energy sector will allow for upgrading the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam and promotion of solar energy projects.

Hello from Cap Haitian, the chipped pearl of the Antilles.  When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Central Plateau, I would sometimes take Route National Three from Hinche to Cap for a long weekend.  I never looked forward to the grueling trip, but I always looked forward to being in Cap.  The beaches were (and still are) beautiful and this region is historically rich.  It is here that Christopher Columbus landed and where he lost one of his ships.  The Haitian slave rebellion began with a single Vodoun ceremony in Bois Cayman and ended with the battle of Vertieres. The Citadel looms from a mountain in the distance.  While the city of Cap Haitian has changed, and not for the better, it is still good to be back in the north.