Sent “Home” With Nothing: The Deportation of Jamaicans with Mental Disabilities
States in mitigating the impact of returns by migrants convicted of crimes.348 In response, the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs requested that IOM develop pilot reintegration programs in cooperation with Caribbean governments.349 The first U.S.-funded IOM program began in Haiti in April 2006 and lasted until August 2008, after which the United States anticipated that Haiti would assume control of the program.350 USAID provided a US$1 million grant to IOM and the Haitian government to provide services to deported persons.351 Observers believe the program was widely successful.352 The program focused on providing entrepreneurship training, reducing the stigma of deported persons in Haitian society, and providing psychosocial support.353 In addition, the U.S. program funded the construction of a halfway house program for newly deported immigrants and provided microcredit loans to help deported persons start their own businesses.354 Despite the program’s success, IOM noted a number of issues that impeded efforts to assist deported persons reintegrate, including limited access to social services for deported persons who were not provided with identification prior to their arrival, a lack of temporary housing in Haiti, a lack of pre-departure support that would allow individuals to contact their families in Haiti prior to arrival, and the program’s inability to refer deported persons to a range of much-needed medical services, including psychiatric care and drug rehabilitation.355 In August 2009, IOM began a U.S.-funded pilot reintegration project in Guyana, based on the reintegration project in Haiti.356 The program includes assistance with obtaining national identification, substance abuse rehabilitation, psycho-social counseling, vocational training, business management training, business grants, and job placement for the newly returned.357 In addition, funding was provided for the construction of a permanent intake center that would serve as a temporary residential facility for deported persons. Upon arrival, IOM provides immediate assis-
348
Id.
349
Id.
350
Id.
351
Id.
352
Amy Bracken, For Haitians deported from the US, an unlikely welcome-home committee, Christian Sci. Monitor, June 26, 2009, available at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2009/0626/p06s01woam.html. USAID sourced the grant as part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy; it was given to the UN Development Program, which then funded the IOM program. Achieng, supra note 346. 353
Achieng, supra note 346.
354
Amy Bracken, Influx of deportees stirs anger in Haiti, Bos. Globe, Mar. 11, 2007, available at http://
www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2007/03/11/influx_of_deportees_stirs_anger_in_haiti/; see also Haiti Regional Deportee Conference, HaitiXchange (Oct. 30, 2008), http://www.haitixchange.com/index.php/ hx/Articles/haiti-regional-deportee-conference/. 355
Achieng, supra note 346.
356
Guyana signs agreement for deportees reintegration, W. Indian News, June 4, 2009, available at
http://www.thewestindiannews.com/guyana-signs-agreement-for-deportees-reintegration/. 357 72
Interview with international organization official, supra note 120.