One.
Allow all Haitians in the US
to work. The number one source of money for poor people in Haiti is the money sent from family and workers
in the US
back home. Haitians will continue to help themselves if given a chance.
Haitians in the US
will continue to help when the world community moves on to other problems.
Two. Do not allow
US military in Haiti
to point their guns at Haitians. Hungry Haitians are not the enemy. Decisions
have already been made which will militarize the humanitarian relief �
but do not allow the victims to be cast as criminals. Do not demonize
the people.
Three. Give Haiti
grants as help, not loans. Haiti
does not need any more debt. Make sure that the relief given helps Haiti rebuild its
public sector so the country can provide its own citizens with basic public
services.
Four. Prioritize
humanitarian aid to help women, children and the elderly. They are always
moved to the back of the line. If they are moved to the back of the line,
start at the back.
Five. President
Obama can enact Temporary Protected Status for Haitians with the stroke
of a pen. Do it. The US
has already done it for El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan
and Somalia.
President Obama should do it on Martin Luther King Day.
Six. Respect Human
Rights from Day One. The UN has enacted Guiding Principles for Internally
Displaced People. Make them required reading for every official and non-governmental
person and organization. Non governmental organizations like charities
and international aid groups are extremely powerful in Haiti � they too
must respect the human dignity and human rights of all people.
Seven. Apologize
to the Haitian people everywhere for Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh.
Eight. Release all
Haitians in US jails who are not accused of any crimes. Thirty thousand
people are facing deportations. No one will be deported to Haiti for years to
come. Release them on Martin Luther King day.
Nine. Require that
all the non-governmental organizations which raise money in the US be transparent about what they raise, where
the money goes, and insist that they be legally accountable to the people
of Haiti.
Ten. Treat all Haitians
as we ourselves would want to be treated.
BlackCommentator.com Columnist Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and
law professor at Loyola University, New Orleans. He
has been an active public interest lawyer since 1977 and has served as
counsel with a wide range of public interest organizations on issues including
Katrina social justice issues, public housing, voting rights, death penalty,
living wage, civil liberties, educational reform, constitutional rights
and civil disobedience. He has litigated
numerous cases with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund, Inc., the Advancement Project, and with the ACLU of Louisiana,
for which he served as General Counsel for over 15 years. Bill is
also legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and one of
the team who represented ACORN in their successful federal constitutional
challenge. You can read the opinion at www.crrjustice.org.
Click
here to
contact Mr. Quigley.
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