CARICOM TASK FORCE - AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL IN REGIONAL RESPONSE TO HAITI

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The immediate past Chair of CARICOM's Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), the Hon. Dame Billie A. Miller says the crisis in Haiti has been one of the most complex and revealing tests of CARICOM's foreign policy management and Caribbean solidarity in the Region's political and integration history.

She said that in the context of conflict resolution, there was no doubt that the Haitian crisis had dominated the attention and energies of Heads of Government in the Region. She was speaking at the official opening of CARICOM Foreign Affairs Ministers at a two-day meeting in Freeport, Grand Bahama. The Meeting started on 1 June.

Minister Miller pointed out that the "deadlocks, strained relations and misunderstandings which developed in the hemisphere as the crisis escalated still persist," but noted that progress had been made "in the handling of our response to the actions of the various stakeholders in the Haitian crisis."

She observed that this progress had come about through negotiation, mediation and sustained dialogue between all parties, and noted that the "use of the CARICOM Task Force, established by a decision of our Heads of Government in March 2004, had been an indispensable tool in keeping the channels of communication open and in working towards delivery on our stated commitment to assist the people of Haiti."

The Barbadian Foreign Minister said it was " very important that the COFCOR's actions have counteracted the concerns or perceptions that the Community was on the periphery of efforts to assist Haiti and worse that the Community did not care for the plight of the Haitian citizen and was ignoring its own neighbours and Member State."

"We have recognised that as a Regional, historical partner of Haiti, we have a duty to play a role in international efforts to assist in contributing to its reconstruction, such as the UN Stabilisation Mission (MINUSTAH)," she added.

Minister Miller underlined the need for increasing the capacity of the Stabilisation Mission to implement disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, and she reiterated CARICOM's concern over "the detention of Lavalas supporters and the importance that we in CARICOM attached to the principles of the Charter of Civil Society."

"And it is in this vein of expressing our concerns, reservations and conditionalities while continuing to work through our Task Force and diplomatic channels for progress in election preparations and institution building for the enjoyment of civil and political rights, especially, that I believe that we have made and will continue to make our progress in our response to the dire situation which continues in Haiti," Minister Miller declared.