US Coast Guard rescues 65 Haitians near Cuba, repatriates another 142

By The Haitian Times

The United States Coast Guard rescued 65 Haitians while on patrol in the waters of northern Cuba April 11, the agency announced in a tweet.

The Haitians were aboard an overloaded sailboat in rough seas, in the north of Cuba, about 15 miles southeast of Anguilla Cay, Bahamas, according to the agency. They had left at the beginning of April from Port-de-Paix in northwest Haiti.

One day prior, the US Coast Guard repatriated 142 migrants to Haiti who had been intercepted off the coast of Miami, said Kerwin Augustin, head of Haiti’s National Office of Migration. Among the repatriated are 19 minors, including a 4-month-old.

USCG said since Oct. 1, 2021, it has interdicted 3,060 Haitian migrants, compared to: 

• 1,527 in 2021
• 418 in 2020
• 932 in 2019
• 609 in 2018
• 419 in 2017