Angry scenes at Haiti airport as deported migrants arrive

3 years ago 33
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image source, Reuters

image captionSome of those who had just landed tried to rush back to the returning planes

Angry scenes broke out at Haiti's main airport after migrants were deported to the country from the US.

On Tuesday, migrants at the airport in Port-au-Prince rushed back towards the plane they had arrived on, while others threw shoes at the jet.

Last weekend, the US started flying out migrants from a Texas border town which has seen an influx in recent weeks.

About 13,000 would-be immigrants have gathered under a bridge connecting Del Rio in Texas to Ciudad Acuña in Mexico.

media captionThousands of people are camped out at the US-Mexico border bridge in poor conditions

Chaos unfolded at Toussaint Louverture airport as one man attempted to re-board the aircraft. The plane's crew rushed to close the jet's doors in time, Reuters news agency reports.

Video footage taken a the airport shows people scrambling for their personal belongings after their bags were dumped out of the plane.

According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there were two separate incidents at the airport on Tuesday.

A source told NBC News that the pilots on board one of the flights was assaulted on arrival in Haiti and three US immigration officers were also injured.

The removal of migrants has been criticised by Partners In Health, an NGO that has been working in the country.

"During a challenging and dangerous period for Haiti, it is unthinkably cruel to send men, women and children back to what many of them do not even call 'home' anymore".

About 4,000 people have either been deported or moved to other processing centres, according to DHS.

image source, Reuters

image captionPeople were forced to look for their belongings on the ground after arriving in Haiti

From Thursday, flights could be ramped up to as many as seven a day, according to the Washington Post.

The migrants have been waiting in a makeshift camp in temperatures of 37C (99F).

Local officials have struggled to provide them with food and adequate sanitation.

Most of those at the camp are Haitians, but there are also Cubans, Peruvians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans present.

Many Haitians left the country after a devastating earthquake in 2010, and a large number of those in the camp had been living in Brazil or other South American countries and travelled north after being unable to secure jobs or legal status.

This year has brought further hardship for the impoverished country. In July, Haiti's president was assassinated - and in August it suffered another deadly earthquake.

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