NEW YORK – Global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) announced that it will provide initial shipments of emergency food and medicine for Haiti beginning Monday (3/8). The agency is also advocating for U.S. protection of Haitian asylum seekers.

The Church World Service shipments include 17,280 pounds of dehydrated food, packed in two-pound bags, as well as as 30 Interchurch Medical Assistance standard medicine boxes and eight disaster medicine boxes. The aid shipments will be directed to Church World Service’s partner in the Dominican Republic to ensure safe delivery and subsequent distribution to serve in-country Haitians and Haitians now in the Dominican Republic.

When hydrated, each pound of rice/potato/vegetable blend yields 25 one-cup servings, for a total of 432,000 servings. Each standard medicine box contains enough medicine to serve 1,000 people for three months, while each disaster box contains medicine to treat the immediate medical conditions of approximately 115 people in a disaster situation, and is about 90% antibiotics.

These shipments are part of a multi-pronged support effort CWS is mounting on behalf of the Haitian people who are mired in chaos and political uncertainty, following weeks of killings, rebel forces who have overtaken more than a third of the island country including its capital Port-au-Prince, violent pro-government forces, and last weekend’s exit of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to asylum in Central Africa.

Conditions are still very unstable, even with the presence of several hundred U.S., Canadian and French military forces whose role is presently less than defined.

In addition to material aid, Church World Service is concurrently staging a vigorous advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill on behalf of Haitian asylum seekers. Says CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough, “We’re urging that the U.S. provide protection to Haitian refugees who are fleeing Haiti.

“We are also requesting that the U.S. grant temporary protective status to Haitians presently in the U.S. who fear for their safety if they are deported. And that includes,” McCullough adds, “those Haitian asylum seekers who are still in detention in this country.”

The global agency is in dialogue with the Congressional Black Caucus and other influential advocacy bodies and is enlisting community- and church-level support to lobby with President Bush, the Department of State, and congressional representatives for humanitarian allowances in the event of an influx of Haitian migrants.

“We’re urging people to call the White House today,” says McCullough.

The Bush administration has to date been adamant about returning all Haitian refugees picked up at sea, particularly since U.S. Coast Guard blockades began patrolling the island’s waters during the uprising.

Church World Service is also now working in conjunction with the Department of State, other refugee resettlement agencies, and CWS’s own ecumenical partners in Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic, to accommodate a possible flow of refugees to specified and authorized refugee sites. CWS is one of the nine Joint Voluntary Agencies that the DOS engages with when resettling refugees in the U.S.,

In addition to its Haitian and Dominican NGO (non-governmental organization) partners, CWS is conferring with the Caribbean Council of Churches and Jamaican Council of Churches. Those Caribbean ecumenical groups are similarly voicing support for the Haitian people. Jamaica has already stated that it would accept Haitian asylum seekers to its shores.

Church World Service spoke Sunday night (2/29) with its ecumenical partners in Haiti, assuring them of solidarity and continued support for their shared humanitarian and economic development work. CWS has elected to keep the names of its on the ground partners anonymous at present, due to concerns about ongoing violence and possible retributions.

McCullough says CWS participation in the current response is "a continuation of our longstanding presence in the Caribbean, working with ecumenical partners there. Through our Miami and Washington offices," he adds, "we have been vigilant advocates for just treatment of Haitian asylum seekers and detainees."

In March 2003, Church World Service hosted the Haitian Migration Crisis Conference in Washington, D.C. Keynoted by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the forum gathered government, humanitarian advocates and policy makers who pressed for a turnaround in discriminatory treatment of Haitian asylum seekers.

In a letter (3/1) to President Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) said U.S. treatment of fleeing Haitian refugees “is in flagrant violation of our legal obligations under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.” Kennedy urged the administration to “honor our nation’s obligations to ensure that such protection is available and effective.”

Kennedy specifically urged the U.S. to follow Canada’s and the Dominican Republic’s example during the present crisis by suspending the deportation of Haitian asylum seekers; ceasing removal proceedings and release of Haiti asylum seekers now in detention; and halting current policy of returning Haitians interdicted at sea with no screening for asylum or guarantee for their safety.

The senator further requested that the U.S. work with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organizations to prevent other Caribbean countries from closing its borders to Haitian asylum seekers and that the U.S. grant temporary protected status to Haitians currently in the U.S., deferring any deportation to Haiti until conditions there do not threaten their safety.

The U.S. has said it would allocate up to 2,000 troops to participate in the multinational peacekeeping force that the UN Security Council on Monday (3/1) unanimously approved to send to Haiti.

Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 36 denominations, providing sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance in partnership worldwide.

Individuals or groups wishing to make financial contributions for Haitian material aid may make a donation online (secure.churchworldservice.org) , or send checks or money orders to: Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: #6742 - Haiti Crisis.

Press Release -www.churchworldservice.org