USCG HISTORY: On this day, October 28, 1991 -Thousands of Haitian migrants began fleeing their homeland after the overthrow of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, prompting one of the largest SAR operations in Coast Guard history. Cutters and aircraft from as far north as New England converged on the Windward Passage. In the first 30 days of the operation, Coast Guard forces rescued more than 6,300 men, women, and children who left Haiti in grossly overloaded and unseaworthy vessels. Seventy-five Coast Guard units ultimately took part in the massive SAR operation and by the end of the year over 40,000 Haitian migrants were rescued. -------------------------------------------------------- Guard Faces Crisis At Sea Mission To Save Haitians Leaves Coast Uncovered November 28, 1991|By LUISA YANEZ, Miami Bureau MIAMI -- The Coast Guard has declared a crisis on the high seas, and that could mean trouble for South Florida boaters who encounter difficulties this holiday weekend. Every available Coast Guard cutter on the East Coast has been dispatched to interdict Haitian refugees, Rear Adm. Robert Kramek, commander of the Coast Guard in the southeast United States, said on Wednesday. ``We have a crisis at sea,`` he said. The refugees being picked up by the Coast Guard are being taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where a former Marine Corps camp site was being converted into a tent city for them. On Wednesday, the Marine Corps general running the camp said that it was filling up so quickly that ``every place that`s flat or can be made flat, we`ll put a tent on it.`` Major Gen. George Walls Jr. said he expected orders from Washington ``very shortly`` to fill Guantanamo Bay Naval Station to its maximum, which other officials said would be about 10,000 refugees. As a result of the Coast Guard armada off Haiti, South Florida boaters have lost some of the assistance they could count on while at sea and there is also not much law enforcement by the Coast Guard, Kramek said. Drug smugglers and the offshore fishing industry are getting a free ride while 3,000 Coast Guard members, usually in charge of law enforcement, are distracted, rescuing Haitians from rickety boats in the Windward Passage, Kramek said. ``I would say 100 percent of our work right now is going into the interdiction of Haitians,`` Kramek said in Miami. Fortunately, the Coast Guard said, Thanksgiving weekend is not traditionally a popular boating time. ``People are having their Thanksgiving meal on land,`` Miami Coast Guard Lt. Jim Howe said. On a typical day, the Coast Guard handles 30 distress calls, Howe said. The majority are from 10 miles offshore. ``Those calls won`t be impacted by the Haitian effort,`` Howe said. ``Our small boats, which could not be used in the Windward Passage, are still running those rescue missions. Only offshore rescues will be affected.`` That could affect any boaters from South Florida planning trips to the Bahamas or to the Caribbean islands. Also affected are the mid-Atlantic states, whose Coast Guard fleet has also been dispatched to the Caribbean. By Wednesday, the Coast Guard had intercepted 73 Haitian boats and 5,175 refugees since Oct. 29. Today, the 3,100 Haitians who have lived on the decks of the 20 Coast Guard cutters and two Navy ships will be allowed on land to join Haitian refugees already in the tent city constructed at the Guantanamo Bay base. But Kramek agreed with Walls that the tent city, which can house 3,000, will reach capacity fast. ``I can fill the camp with just the Haitians onboard the cutters and ships,`` Kramek said. About 200 to 300 Haitians are taken off refugee boats daily, Kramek said. At that rate, in a week`s time, the cutters will be packed again. ``We won`t be able to search and rescue any more,`` Kramek said. That could lead to more deaths at sea. Last week, a boatful of Haitians capsized near Cuba. More than 100 people drowned. While the parade of boats out of Haiti continues, Kramek said the Coast Guard has been successful in persuading some Haitians to return home. Still, makeshift vessels are being built. The Coast Guard scuttles boats stopped at sea. Faced with more overcrowding on the cutters, Kramek has asked the federal government to help find another site where the cutters could unload the Haitians. Among the considerations are chartering cruise ships, sending more Navy ships or finding countries that would welcome the Haitians. The federal government is spending $35 million on the interdiction effort. Despite what he called the ``deplorable`` conditions aboard the cutters, Kramek said the Haitians were in good spirits. About 70 percent are men and 30 percent are women and children, he said. While in immigration limbo, most Haitians have been peaceful, but a group crammed into a cutter for 17 days staged a two-day hunger strike, Kramek said. They have since been transferred to countries in the Caribbean. On Saturday, a delegation from Miami`s Haitian Refugee Center is scheduled to fly to Guantanamo Bay to observe the conditions and the interviewing by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Haitians. The matter may be settled on Monday when a Miami federal judge could order the Haitians returned to their country or admit them into the United States. articles.sun-sentinel/1991-11-28/news/9102190166_1_coast-guard-haitian-refugees-windward-passage
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 16:36:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015