Alex Jospitre the Consul General of the Republic of Haiti in Suriname accompanied by the Vice Consul Rosario Alexandre had an important and fruitful meeting with Ferdinand Welzijn the Minister ai of Justice and Police (JUSPOL) of the Republic of Suriname, regarding the regularization of our compatriots in irregular migratory situation on the Surinamese territory.

Minister Welzijn reiterated the will of the Surinamese Government to remove any person from the uncertainty that characterizes the lives of people in an irregular situation in a foreign country before expressing his admiration for the some 1,800 Haitians who, thanks to the assistance of Consulate of Haiti, were able to get the Surinamese temporary residence of two years through the process of legalization initiated three months ago by Suriname.

Alex Jospitre said he is proud of these results, because our regularized compatriots will soon be entitled to social benefits and civil rights such as access to health insurance coverage, driver's license, authorization of work, the right to invest, the right to property, the possibility to marry foreigners, to move freely through and out of the country...

In addition, the Consul Jospitre explored and argued several important points with Minister Welzijn including :

• 1 - The possibility of an extension of the process of legalization (which expired on December 20, 2017) for the benefit of Haitians who could not meet in time the requested documents or the required sum ;

• 2 - The possibility 'special treatment for the case of young compatriots who, although major under Haitian law, could not participate in the process that requires that any candidate is 21 years and older ;

• 3 - The possibility of special consideration for compatriots who have entered the Surinamese territory illegally (without going through immigration services) and who have not been included in the recent process of legalization.

En réponse au premier point, le Ministre Welzijn a instruit son équipe pour qu’elle travaille sur une prorogation immédiate du processus de légalisation avec la possibilité d’honorer en trois versements le montant total des frais requis pour soulager les candidats en situation financière précaire. Pour le second point il a demandé à ses employés de travailler en collaboration avec les diplomates haïtiens sur une mainlevée pouvant permettre aux haïtiens concernés de participer pleinement au processus qui devrait être relancé dans les jours à venir. Concernant le troisième point, sans doute le plus délicat, le Ministre Welzijn, sans faire de promesses s’est dit prêt à explorer dans le futur les possibilités d’inclure ce groupe dans une éventuelle amnistie qui devra tenir compte de la politique migratoire du Gouvernement Surinamien et inclure une étude détaillée du profil de chaque intéressé.

SL/ HaitiLibre