US Orders Island Refugees To Leave - ANOTHER OUTRAGE From HSD!

[matcom]

today's Boston Globe. This is the first i have heard about this :grr:

<snip>

US orders island refugees to leave
Montserrat natives had fled volcano
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff | February 20, 2005

Lenroy Allen has spent the last eight years working as an auto mechanic in Hyde Park, after a volcano leveled his village on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Stanford Watts is a carpenter in the Bronx. Anita Lynn Weekes is a nanny in Dorchester.

They are among the 292 Montserratians who were granted special temporary permission to live and work in the United States following the 1995 eruption, which displaced 8,000 people and destroyed more than half the island. But after next Sunday, they may be forced to go home. The Department of Homeland Security has told the Montserratians that their temporary status will expire on Feb. 27 and that they must leave the country or face deportation.

But Allen, Watts, and Weekes said they no longer have a home to return to. If they went back to the devastated island, they said, they would not be able to find work.

"Why would I go home where I can't do anything?" said Weekes, who used to work at a law office in Montserrat. "I might end up in a shelter, if I can even get in. I might be living on the streets."

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

---more---

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/20/us_orders_island_refugees_to_leave?mode=PF

[sam sarrha]

1. Mexican *Migrants* amounting to 10% of the population of Mexico arent go'n

home either... because of the corruption of a government described by the UN as "Morally Bankrupt and Democratically irretrievable".

*Migrants* in the nature of having 'Migrated', actually the worlds largest migration of people in the history of the world.. and for economic reasons.

for those of you that do not have 'thousands' of Mexican Migrants lining the streets waiting to be picked up as "DAY LABOR", but actually day labor every day...which is permanent labor. ..this migration of seriously unfortunate peoples is a serious National Security problem. housing is being flooded and the demand is raising the costs of housing, the flooding of the labor markets is destroying the wage potential... El Paso TX the mean income is $1400 dollars a year. I couldn't get a job, it was for minimum wage. I drove a Bus and when i red tagged one as unsafe with no brakes it would be back on the road in 10 minutes driven by a desperate migrant trying to feed his family..that happened ALL THE TIME..!!

there are lot of different problems related to this administrations Open Border Policy.. they are WIDE OPEN !! and Fox is threatening Bu$h to keep them open.. i wonder if he has video of Bu$h snorting the cocaine he shipped into the USA ??

[DELUSIONAL]

2. I have a friend from Montserrat

and I've just forwarded to her the link for this discussion.

She is aware of the problem and has written tons of letters -- she know most of the people.

My friend is a US citizen -- having lived in the US long before the volcano became active in 1996.

According to the other Montserratians I know -- the island is still devastated. Parts of the closed areas have been open -- but there needs to be a massive clean-up and rebuilding of the infrastructure. The northern half of the island is very nice -- green and welcomes tourists who want a tropical island experience without a big resort getting in the way.

Montserrat is a colony of the UK -- and one would think that since the UK followed Bush into war -- that the US would allow some hardworking British citizens to remain in the US.

Anyway I'll keep this kicked until she is able to respond -- because she has a whole like of background and details that are missing in the article.

[matcom]

3. THANK YOU

i would LOVE to hear more about this. first i have heard about it but it seems so fucked to do this to these people.

[DELUSIONAL]

8. She is trying to sign on DU -- I've sent instructions

She has been writing letters to everyone she can think of about her Montserratian friends. She can give us a whole lot more background and tell us where to send email and faxes to help keep these people in the US. (She is also a democrat and a liberal -- so she will be a nice addition to the DU community -- a bit of a Caribbean flair!)

The southern half of the island is where the majority of the population lived -- and this area is still largely uninhabitable. The north part of the island is habitable -- but there isn't that much buildable land. Montserrat was formed from volcanoes -- and so the hills are steep -- and many homes are built on the side of the mountains on stilts.

The last time I heard numbers -- Before the volcano -- the island had a population of 10,000 - 12,000 and now there are about 4,500. My friend has all the stats and references -- this is a project dear to her heart. I believe that she has a sister who is living on Montserrat now.

Problem is that jobs in Montserrat are few and far between -- most people throughout the Caribbean work at several jobs (so NO bush -- working three jobs is NOT uniquely American).

So the US wants to deport these Montserratians back home -- because the volcano is still active??? Where will they live? And how will they survive? You know from the news story that these are hardworking people.

[queenie]

22. Montserratians to go home

I was just invited to forum and like what I have been reading so far.

I have been writing letters to everyone and need all your help sending faxes to all your leaders on Capital Hill to let them help with this matter.

Problem: This Administration is deporting these Montserratians effective February 28th 2005. No homes, no jobs and children who were born during this stay will be forced to leave with their parents although they are American citizens.

Solutions: TPS(Temporary Protected Status) can be renewed. The Nicaraguans have had this status for more than 30 years. The President can sign something called DED(deffered enforced departure) which has been done four times before. The Montserratians can be given Alien registration cards which has been done to the tune of 5000 each year to help the plight of the Nicaraguans. There are less than 1000 Montserratians that could be helped on a one time basis.

[Swamp Rat]

48. Welcome to DU!

:kick:

[matcom]

4. kick

:kick:

[Bluebear]

5. Here is what they get to go back to

www.montserratreporter.org

[matcom]

6. i am OUTRAGED

these people are budding members of our community and they are being sent back to THAT???

:grr:

[Bluebear]

7. Yes, undoubtably brown-skinned people.

Here is a risk map from 1998, the island is mostly uninhabitable. The people have to pack up and abandon their towns to move into ever-shrinking areas.

[DELUSIONAL]

9. That map clearly shows how much of the island was devastated

by the Volcano.

Cork Hill & Fox's Bay -- and some of the areas in the red zone may be rehabilitated -- but ONLY with a massive amount of money from the UK for infrastructure -- Water lines and electrical lines and roads.

Each house will take a massive amount of work to make them livable -- and yes that photo isn't too far off the mark. Tones of Ash is covering the red zone. Roofs have caved in under the ash load.

I just talked to another friend who has a home in Fox's Bay -- she has had to replace the roof of her house -- and then all the plumbing etc will have to be redone.

The red zone had many level areas -- and this is where the agriculture zones were (according to my friends) -- the northern zone has very few level areas for the farmers.

[Bluebear]

10. I have followed the Montserrat story for years

Those that remain are trying so hard to restart a small tourism industry. I cannot imagine what hundreds of 'repatriated' people would do for work. Well, there IS no work for them. I for one welcome them into the Boston/New England area and wish I could do something to LET THEM STAY here!

[mwb970]

11. This is all new to me.

A story like this really shows the value of DU!

[Bluebear]

12. Welcome mwb....here on one link is a photo primer

http://www.gov.ms/volcano/volcano_damage.htm

You can see the damage from the dome collapse on 2003. I will post a few here as well. You could imagine the outrage we feel when people trying to live in the US and contibute to our nation are being now told they were only 'temporary' refugees and they must now go back to THIS!

This WAS an area of shops and nightclubs



Salem Park, a sports stadium



Olveston area, I wonder if this car will run again



Old Road, on which I guess the repatriated will be 'driving to work'

[DELUSIONAL]

13. The photos from the July 2004 dome collapse

were taken in the north part of the island.

The UK paid millions of pounds for this ash to be cleaned and dumped in the south part of the island (the dumped ash was covered with top soil according to the newspaper). The Montserrat Reporter covered the story last year.

Since the cleanup my friends tell me that gardens have returned and most important -- the insides of their homes are NO longer covered with ash every day.

More than likely the car in the photo was cleaned up and drivable. But the ash left on cars and tin roofs -- corrodes the mental surfaces. And the South part of the island is covered in tons and tons of ash -- to be made livable the ash must be cleaned up.

So yes the Montserratians being forced to return to Montserrat won't have homes -- because the reason they left was because their homes were in the south part of the island. Their jobs were also in the south of the island. The red part of the map clearly shows that there is a problem for human habitation. That part of the island is GRAY -- as you can see from the red phone booth -- the extreme depth of the ash.

[DELUSIONAL]

14. kick

[matcom]

15. THESE PEOPLE NEED OUR HELP FOLKS!!!

which means I need YOURS!!

can we do SOMETHING about this??

PLEASE?

[Bluebear]

18. I'm local, what can we do

[Moderator]

16. matcom

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[matcom]

17. thanks but um....

i'm past my edit time

[Shananigans]

35. Er...yeah.

How DOES one clean up all that ash anyways???

[DELUSIONAL]

37. To clean up ash --

Lots of people, lots of shovels, lots of wheel barrows, lots of trucks and front loaders and equipment to load the trucks.

The ash -- as you can see from the photos was wet and thick when it fell. It coated everything -- just about all the birds in the path of the ash cloud were killed. They were coated with ash and smothered. No human life was lost on Montserrat -- the ash fall was in the evening and during the night so everyone was at home.

Then the tree limbs broke from the ash load -- the description I've heard sounds similar to a very bad ice storm when the branches break and crack under the load. All the leaves were stripped from the trees.

Anyway it took several months to organize the ash clean-up -- and money from the UK to fund the clean-up.

For a short time there was full employment on island -- because everyone who could work at the ash removal was needed.

Some people kept track of the truck loads of ash -- and they have told me it took from 50 - 100 truck loads to remove ash from about 1 acre of land. Bobcats and large equipment could be used in the yards, road and level areas -- and human power (shovels and wheel barrows) for the places that the heavy equipment couldn't fit.

This was done in the occupied North of the island -- but tons of ash are still covering each acre of the south of the island.

It would take millions & years to clean up the south part of the island for human habitation -- and this is where the homes of the Montserratians in the are located.

Plymouth was the capital -- and this was a flat area -- nicely built up from volcanic action hundreds of years ago. This whole area is gray with ash -- plus there was a village at the southern tip of the island -- this is gone. I've seen photos -- where there were homes and streets -- you only see a huge volcano flow that covered over all the homes.

Queenie will know how many people lived in this southern village -- and there are no homes to return to. In some areas north of the capital Plymouth -- some homes can be rehabilitated and restored -- but only at great cost for each home.

Without continual maintenance homes will deteriorate -- you can imagine if you had to suddenly leave your home 8 years ago. Then imagine fine ash getting in everywhere -- the whole inside of the house would have a thick coating of ash. The acidic ash would wreck the plumbing fixtures -- there are photos of homes and business in Plymouth on a Montserrat related website.

This destruction was due to Natural causes -- mother nature.

[matcom]

19. once more before bed

does ANYONE care?

[Bluebear]

21. WAVING

yoo hoo. Read above!

What can we do up here in Bostonland to help?

[jazzjunkysue]

20. WTF??? No oil, no $$, no arab contacts, why do this? Bigotry.

[DELUSIONAL]

23. queenie has signed on and will be posting on this subject!

So I'll give this a kick or two to get it back up the subject list.

[DELUSIONAL]

24. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

25. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

26. kick

[datasuspect]

27. sympathy kick

shameful

[matcom]

28. and another

[queenie]

29. Montserratians to go home

I was just invited to forum and like what I have been reading so far.

I have been writing letters to everyone and need all your help sending faxes to all your leaders on Capital Hill to let them help with this matter.

Problem: This Administration is deporting these Montserratians effective February 28th 2005. No homes, no jobs and children who were born during this stay will be forced to leave with their parents although they are American citizens.

Solutions: TPS(Temporary Protected Status) can be renewed. The Nicaraguans have had this status for more than 30 years. The President can sign something called DED(deffered enforced departure) which has been done four times before. The Montserratians can be given Alien registration cards which has been done to the tune of 5000 each year to help the plight of the Nicaraguans. There are less than 1000 Montserratians that could be helped on a one time basis.

[matcom]

30. welcome queenie

and thank you for posting on this subject. i read this for the first time yesterday in the Boston Globe and IMMEDIATELY became outraged.

i am sorry i wasn't aware of this sooner.

now, are there any reps who are particularly involved in this issue? can you give us some names of people who might be simpathetic to this cause or are we (one again) going to have to educate our senators?

i guess since this story was in MA, Barney Frank might be the first stop. his site is here:

http://www.house.gov/frank/

[queenie]

31. More on the plight of Montserratians

I will write to Barney Frank but I know that some folks in Boston have been in touch with Senator Kennedy's office and have met with some of his staff on this matter. I know that Senator Schumer from New York has been working on this for a long time and even introduced it to the floor in 2003 but the bill is stuck somewhere while these people count down the days to their sentence unless we can find a way to get a stay.

[Roland99]

40. Welcome to DU! We are all behind you!

Thanks for posting this.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

32. kick

o_O

[blondeatlast]

33. This needs a big one:

:kick:

[LynneSin]

34. HEY!!! I don't want no stinkin Montserratians Terrorists in our country

CODE RED NOW UNTIL THEY ARE OUT


:crazy:

[DELUSIONAL]

36. The Montserratians are experts at living in code red conditions!

They could teach us all a thing or two about dealing with a Natural disaster. <grin> Thanks for the kick -- LynneSin!

[Ian David]

43. I'm going to call my congress-critters tomorrow

In the meantime, please keep this kicked.

We shouldn't let Bush send them back to an island that could blow-up before they have a chance to be Raptured.

[DELUSIONAL]

38. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

39. kick

[matcom]

41. yes

:kick:

[DELUSIONAL]

42. kick

[queenie]

45. Ash clean up in Montserrat is a continuous process

Prior to the volcanic eruptions two-thirds of the homes and most of the businesses were located on the southern side of the island. By the US own reports it would be fifty or so years before that part of the island may become safe for habitation (www.uscis.gov > click temporary protected status > click Montserrat.

There is no preparation for the return of these folks because it just cannot happen so quickly. The process of housing the people who chose to stay is a difficult and on going one. The British and Montserrat government claim to be in shock by the expulsion yet Mr. Blair has not come out and said what can be done.

I am also concerned that those children who were born here and are American citizens would also have to leave with their parents. Something about that just seem to be very wrong.

[EFerrari]

44. Why don't we deport HLS instead? So much easier to secure an island.

Queenie, I apologize for this government. They don't represent me.

[queenie]

46. We are a democracy

We all know what a democratic government should be but ever so often we wonder.

[annabanana]

47. Shout out to Schumer and Kennedy constituents.....

Give their offices a call and encourage them to give the matter a push... The 28th is just a week away.

[idiosyncratic]

49. Kick!

:kick:

[DELUSIONAL]

50. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

51. Photos from Montserrat -- south show ash flow

This first photo is of St. Patrick's

The ash flow looks lumpy -- that's because I am told that houses are under the ash -- this area of Montserrat will be completely uninhabitable for years. Queenie can give you more details about this area. I haven't seen photos of what this area looked like before the volcano -- but it was a large village full of people. They were all evacuated before the major eruption of December 26, 1998.



Cruise ships come close to the island -- the southern half of the island this is a major tourist draw -- but no income to the island from the cruise ships.
-------------------------------


This photo shows the path of the pyroclastic flow -- right through the capital of Plymouth.
----------------------


This was the capital of Montserrat -- Plymouth -- the photos I've seen show a charming Tropical Caribbean Colonial Town.

As you can see from these photos -- taken from a cruise boat -- The red zone is uninhabitable in its current state. There is no guarantee that the volcano has gone to sleep. The last eruption was last year . . .

There is no home in the South of the island for Montserratians being deported to go home TO. Perhaps in their children's children's lifetime.

[queenie]

53. follow up on photos

The first picture used to be Radio Antilles. It was one of the largest employers on the island for many years.

Picture 2 and 3 show different views of what used to be the capital Plymouth. Looking beyond the capital I can see the area where the only hospital use to be. My friend who was a nurse there many years ago visited the island last week and is very distressed that the hospital system is still in shambles and that many people have to travel off island for medical care if they can afford it.
My family home was in the flattened area beyond the city in picture 2.

Beyond Plymouth in picture 3 used be the industrial area with factory shells, public works and the electrical plant. The last I heard the electrical plant consisted of generators on Wheels so that they can be moved when necessary.

It is no wonder that the cruise ships cannot stop in anymore with little or no port facilities to accommodate them. Tourism used to the main industry of the island.

[idiosyncratic]

52. Kick

:kick:

[DELUSIONAL]

54. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

55. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

56. kick

[Bluebear]

57. KICK!!!!!!

[queenie]

58. send message to Michael Chertoff

The decision to end TPS was done under Tom Ridges watch. We are now seeking everyone who can, to go to www.dhs.gov and send an email to Michael Chertoff the new boss asking him to review this situation. Time is ticking down!!!

[Bluebear]

59. Please folks, email. Mass. residents please call your senators

[queenie]

60. thanks guys

we need all the help we can get. It does not look good.

[queenie]

61. kick

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPP