Dánica Coto (AP) writes that at least five Haitian migrants drowned and 68 others were rescued Thursday after a suspected human-smuggling boat took the group off the coast of uninhabited Mona Island, west of Puerto Rico. . Here are excerpts from Washington Post.
[. . .] The incident is the latest in a string of deadly trips across the northern Caribbean, with Haitian migrants fleeing their country amid a deepening political and economic crisis and a rise in gang-related killings and kidnappings.
Federal and local authorities searched the area near Mona Island for several hours after receiving a call from Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources rangers who first spotted the migrants. Officials determined no other people were missing, based on interviews with survivors, US Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told The Associated Press.
He said 41 men, 25 women and two children survived, adding that none had any urgent medical problems.
Jeffrey Quiñones, spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection, said all the migrants aboard the boat were Haitian.
Most people-smuggling boats carrying migrants from Haiti to Puerto Rico depart from the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Some capsize in the treacherous Mona Passage that separates the two islands, while other boats leave migrants on small uninhabited islands before reaching Puerto Rico.
In this case, the boat with the migrants left the scene, Castrodad said. The rescue comes just days after authorities in the Bahamas recovered the bodies of 17 migrants and rescued 25 others after their boat capsized early Sunday. A criminal investigation is underway. In May, 11 Haitian women drowned and 38 others were rescued after their boat capsized off Puerto Rico. “This is happening every day,” Castrodad said. “Everyone has the same risk and the same danger.”
A growing number of Haitians are fleeing their country as gangs grow more powerful following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021. Just this week, authorities blamed gangs for burning down a courthouse and a church as ground wars intensify in the capital Port-au-Prince. In addition, more than 470 people have been killed, injured or disappeared in less than a week amid gang clashes in the Cite Soleil slum, according to the United Nations. [. . .]
For the full article, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/5-dead-66-migrants-rescued-from-waters-near-puerto-rico/2022/07/28/a1977b18-0e86-11ed- 88e8 -c58dc3dbaee2_story.html
See also https://lenouvelliste.com/article/237311/5-morts-68-haitiens-secourus-dans-les-eaux-pres-de-porto-rico and https://lainformacion.com.do/exterior/ las-antillas/guardia-costera-de-puerto-rico-confirma-son-haitianos-los-cinco-muertos-cerca-de-la-isla-de-mona
[Photo above (Uncredited/Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources): Rescued migrants walk on the shore off Mona Island, west of Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 28, 2022. At least five migrants drowned and dozens others were rescued Thursday after a suspected human smuggling boat dropped the group off in waters near the uninhabited island west of Puerto Rico, officials said.]
