Haitians denied asylum

Family members of former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John were denied asylum in Jamaica.

However, their attorney, Donahue Martin, informed Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montaque that he would be appealing the decision.

Martin believes the applicants, Edume Joseph, 38, and her sons Schopenhauer, 17, and a nine-year-old are fit for refugee status, given that they satisfy the provisions of the treaty. On a previous court appearance, the attorney shared that his clients fled their country out of fear for their safety after Edume was attacked at gunpoint.

Martin further informed the court that although the letter with the decision from the minister of national security was dated March 30, it was received and served on one of the applicants on April 20, without his knowledge. Upon receipt of the decision, the attorney has seven days in which to make an appeal.

"The truth is, Your Honour, if in these circumstances these persons cannot be deemed refugees, I'm not sure who can. The protocol exists that there has to be well-founded allegations of fear, of being persecuted and because of the terrain that is in that particular country, instability, that in and of itself is problematic.

And that is exactly why I am craving with the court for one final time, for this is the last step we can do, and I am hoping that our ministry makes the right decision, and deem this family to be refugees and protected under the relevant conventions and protocols," Martin reasoned.

Judge Cole-Montaque granted an adjournment in the matter until May 16.

Edume and her children are before the courts, facing a charge of illegal entry, after they were arrested in Warminster district, St Elizabeth, along with Joseph John in January.

In the meantime, arrangements are under way for John to be extradited to the United States, after prosecutors entered a nolle prosequi to discontinue proceedings in the charge of illegal entry.

The former senator consented to the extradition request on March 21, waiving his rights to a hearing.

The judge explained that prosecutors in this jurisdiction had no further interest in the local charge against him and with that in place, the matter is now finished.

"The matter is now at an end and this charge of illegal entry now at an end, clears the way for arrangements to be made for you to be extradited to the United States. So this is your last day at Half-Way-Tree, finally," remarked Cole-Montaque, in relation to the ex-senator's case.

Joseph John will become the third suspect to be extradited to the United States wanted in connection with the Haitian president Jovenel Moise's assassination.

Other suspects include Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar and Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios.

Jaar was arrested in the Dominican Republic in January this year and Palacios was arrested in Jamaica in October 2021.

- T.T.