News Release, U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1990:

HAITIANS DIE AT SEA, VICTIMS OF INHUMANE INTERDICTION POLICIES

Last Tuesday (July 10), at least 39 Haitians drowned at sea after their boat was interdicted by the Bahamian Defense Force and capsized as it was being towed. The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) today issued a call to the government of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas to cease its Haitian interdiction program… USCR has issued similar appeals to the U.S. government, since the U.S. interdiction program began in 1981, targeted specifically against Haitians. Since that time, 21,361 Haitians have been interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard. Of that number only eight persons have been allowed ashore to pursue asylum claims….

Boats interdicted by the U.S. Coast Guard have also capsized with loss of life. On June 6, 1984, a boat carrying 70 to 89 persons sank as it was being boarded by the Coast Guard; six bodies were recovered, and 63 survived….

“The failure of the United States to treat Haitians with dignity and to respect their rights to seek asylum…sends a signal worldwide that refugees lose their human rights when they enter international waters. Already this year, we have seen Malaysia tow away thousands of Vietnamese boat people, and Sri Lanka opened fire on Tamils fleeing in boats” …said [Roger] Winter [, USCR director]. “As long as the United States gives higher priority to pushing the unwanted away from our shores than saving their lives, …asylum seekers will continue to drift—alone and forsaken—on unforgiving seas.”