"Turks & Caicos Islands authorities wanted to kill us"

Haiti Support Group press release: Survivor of Turks & Caicos Islands boat disaster gives an eyewitness account - 6 June 2007

More than 60 Haitians died as a result of "standard practice" when their boat was intercepted by coastguards and capsized off the coast of the British dependency, the Turks & Caicos Islands.

One month ago, in the early morning of 4 May, a sail-boat from Haiti carrying around 200 people was intercepted by a Turks & Caicos Islands coastguard vessel as it approached Providenciales. In disputed circumstances, the sail-boat capsized, throwing all those on board into the sea. Sixty-two people survived. The rest drowned or were eaten alive by sharks.

The Turks & Caicos Islands authorities have issued a series of bland statements insisting that the boat from Haiti capsized while being towed by a coastguard vessel "in line with standard practice", and declaring that the accident happened because of bad weather. The British government sent a team of investigators to the Turks & Caicos Islands, but their report is not expected to finalised for many more weeks.

The Haitian NGO, the Groupe d'Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR), interviewed some of those Haitians who survived the tragedy. A translation of the testimony of one them, D.J, a 21-year old, who spoke to GARR when he was repatriated to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on May 10, 2007, follows:

GARR: You formed part of the first group of people brought back to Haiti following your rescue after the shipwreck of your boat near the Turks & Caicos Islands. How many are you, men and women?

There are nine women, and a group of 30 men. The plane has gone back to the Turks & Caicos Islands to transport another group.

GARR: In the statement made a few moments ago, you said that the Turks & Caicos Islands authorities sank your boat. Is that correct?

Yes. It was the Turks & Caicos Islands authorities that sank the boat.

GARR: Could you explain how that happened?

I was on the prow at the front of the boat and I was able to follow everything that occurred. It all happened as we left the channel to approach land. We were, in fact, approximately five minutes away from Providenciales. At that moment, a coastguard ship appeared on the left side of our boat. Then it passed us on the right. It wanted to prevent us at all costs from reaching the shore.

GARR: Where were you at this time?

We had just about reached Provo. We would have been there in about five minutes. Everyone was getting their belongings together, and getting ready to disembark from the boat. When the coastguards realised that everyone was getting ready to disembark, they rammed our boat. Twice.

There were three people on the coastguard boat. One had a handgun, another a machete, which he used to threatened us and try and make us stop. At that moment, they threw a line to us to attach to our boat. They ordered to us to lower the sails, and tried to tow us out into the channel.

We thought that they were going to accompany us to the quay, because usually when they intercept you at sea, they take you through Customs, before taking you to prison, and then deporting you back to Haiti. However, as we saw, this time they towed us in the direction of the channel, out to open sea. It was God Almighty who saved our lives, because just as our boat approached the Provo quay they were going to kill all of us, without leaving any survivor to testify to the slaughter or inform our families about what happened.

When they started to tow our boat, it received a first jolt and surged forward. The coastguards then gave a second jolt to the boat, and the line slackened, and with the third jolt, the boat overturned. In spite of that, the men on board the coastguard boat waited 10 minutes before trying to save us. They were three of them, but only one of them made any moves to try and help us. When he realized that so many people were drowning, he signalled to the others that we had to be helped. Someone else then arrived with a small yacht, and they started to fish people out the sea to place them in the yacht. Meanwhile, many people drowned.

GARR: How many of you died?

Well, it's hard to say. There were about 200 of us and we can't know how many died because there were those who fell in the sea near Provo and who we saw floating in the water, but there were many more who died and we never saw again. Afterwards the authorities showed us photographs but they were of bodies floating in the water. There were many people who were with us on the boat and we didn't see them among the photos they showed us.

GARR: Was that your first voyage to the Turks & Caicos Islands?

No, it was my second.

GARR: Did you also by boat the first time?

Yes, I went by boat. The Turks & Caicos Islands authorities intercepted the boat and the next day they sent me and the others back to Haiti. This time, though, the Turks & Caicos Islands authorities wanted to kill us.

Source: Groupe d'Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR) - translated from French by Charles Arthur for the Haiti Support Group