Haitian Children at Guantanamo Must Be Let Into U.S., Judge Says

About 230 unaccompanied Haitian children being held in a U.S. detention camp in Cuba should be allowed to enter the country under the same humanitarian parole being granted Cuban refugees, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Furthermore, said U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins, legal counsel must be provided to all refugees who request it in writing, and the names of each of the 5,993 Haitians being held in the tent city at the U.S. naval base must be given to refugee advocates here.

Atkins’ order was in response to a lawsuit filed by attorneys for the Haitians, who charged the Clinton Administration with “blatant discrimination” in allowing Cuban children at the Guantanamo Bay base into the United States while barring Haitian minors.

“It’s a flagrant double standard,” said Cheryl Little, one of the attorneys for the Haitians. “We’re delighted with the ruling. Innocent children should not become pawns in a political game.”

The lawsuit on behalf of the Haitians at Guantanamo was filed after attorneys for about 23,000 Cubans held there sued for their release. After Atkins blocked the repatriation of Cubans and ordered that they be given access to lawyers, the U.S. Justice Department appealed to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 19.

But in the meantime, Guantanamo Cubans are being released from the camps. Over the last few weeks, more than 200 refugees, mostly young children and their immediate families, and the elderly have been paroled into the United States, contradicting the Administration’s Aug. 19 pledge that no refugees fleeing Cuba by raft would be permitted to enter the country without first returning to Cuba to apply for legal entry.

In addition to the 23,000 Cubans at Guantanamo Bay, 9,000 rafters are held in camps in Panama.

In defending what appears to be unequal treatment of the refugees, U.S. Justice Department attorney David Kline argued in court Monday that the Haitians no longer face persecution at home since the return of elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the presence of U.S. troops in Haiti.

Since Aristide’s return Oct. 15, about 8,000 Haitians have volunteered for repatriation.