Konn li pa di lespri pou sa
March 07, 2025 - March 21, 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s biweekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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Konn li pa di lespri pou sa
The ability to read doesn't necessarily make one wise
(Haitian proverb)CHAY LA | Main Story
Orders from D.C.
A draft US government list of 41 countries for possible travel restriction, categorized according to three levels of severity, has been circulating. If this travel ban is implemented, countries on the list would be subject to travel restrictions, including full visa suspensions for countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria.
The United States government has yet to communicate with any of the countries concerned regarding this potential ban, nor has it addressed any of the concerns raised on the implications of this ban. If this travel ban is applied, combined with the announcement that the Humanitarian Parole extended to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans would be revoked on April 24, 2025, Haitians will be functionally banished from the US. The beneficiaries of the Biden program will be subject to deportation, without legal status to remain in the United States.
Haiti is currently listed in the second group, alongside Eritrea, Laos, Myanmar, and South Sudan, facing a partial suspension on tourist and student visas and other immigrant visas (with some exceptions).
Caribbean countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as Saint Lucia, would also be subject to partial travel suspensions should their governments fail to address unspecified “deficiencies” within two months. The list also includes several African countries.
This order applies to over 500,000 people. According to the Associated Press, the administration has also halted any pending asylum and visa applications or any other requests that might allow paroles to remain in the US.
A lawsuit contesting this order has already been filed against the Trump Administration to reinstate the human parole program, including plaintiffs from Ukraine, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan.
Protests in Haiti
This week, protests in Pòtoprens and Kenskòf denouncing the insecurity and gang violence in Haiti drew large crowds, united in their demands that the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT) put an end to the violence plaguing the capital. In the past month alone, more than 60,000 people have been displaced. Many families displaced to Kafou Fèy have had to move again. More schools across the capital have closed and radio stations like Radio Caraibes, Mélodie FM, and Tele Pluriel have been directly attacked.
The demonstrators could be heard chanting “Kanapevè pa Solino” which means “Canapé-Vert is not Solino” — as they made their way from Canapé-Vert toward the Village d’Acceuil, which is currently serving as the CPT’s headquarters. The neighborhood of Solino fell under the control of armed groups after 18 months of resistance. Like Solino, Kanapevè has an organized self-defense group and is recognized to have started what is referred to as Bwa Kale in April 2023.
The protest in Pòtoprens, like the many others discussed in previous newsletters, was dispersed on the Bourdon road with tear gas and gunfire by the Haitian National Police (PNH) before the crowds could reach the Village d’Acceuil. Three people were wounded and at least one person died.
Demonstrators were seen carrying protest signs and tree branches, while others brandished machetes and sticks. Along the way, barricades were erected from burning tires and other debris. On Wednesday, March 19th, barricades were also mounted on several roads across the capital to ward off gang attacks.
On the same day, Alterpresse reports, there were reports of explosions in Gran Ravin (Martissant), Village de Dieu, and 4e Avenue Bolosse, allegedly deployed by law enforcement using drones to target gang strongholds. According to several media outlets, several gang members were wounded in this attack.
The Haitian government has been reproached by international human rights organizations for its use of these makeshift drones outfitted with explosives, sparking a debate across Haitian society. Such practices are illegal according to international law, particularly because it puts civilians in harm’s way. The gangs are implanted within communities and many people were coaxed by gang leaders last year to return home in neighborhoods like Kafou Fèy ahead of the arrival of the Kenyan troops.
According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), people continue to be displaced by the incessant assault on the capital by the gangs, with over 23,000 newly displaced in the span of less than one week — from Tuesday, March 11 to Monday, March 17.
Women’s Rights and Feminism in Haiti
The history of the expansion of women's rights took center stage in a lecture hosted by the UEH Law School in Okap last week. Its guest speakers were Angelique Verdilus, the Director of the Central Bank in the North, and Mèt Magarette Georges who is an Appeals Court Judge and law professor. For a look at the feminist movement in Haiti, read this article written for Woy Magazine by Perpetua Chery “Feminist is a Dirty Word in Haiti”.
Some even wondered if such a protest could ever take place in Haiti; forgetting that on April 3, 1986, shortly after the end of the Duvalier regime, more than 30,000 women from diverse backgrounds took to the streets of Port-au-Prince to demand to be included in Haiti’s return to democracy. The 1986 march, organized by more than a dozen grassroots groups, called attention to sexual and gender-based violence, women’s financial exclusion, lack of access to health and education, among other issues. For many women who participated in this march, including my mother, it was the first time they felt socially empowered. Despite a few critics, the event was well-received and marked the renewal of Haiti’s women’s movement; eventually contributing to the creation of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights, Haiti’s participation in the 1995 Beijing Conference, and the ratification of the Belem do Para Convention. (Source: Woy Magazine)