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Not in Their Best Interest Report on the repatriation of Haitian refugee children Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS), April 1985, 30 pages In spite of widespread criticism, US officials forcibly repatriated another 24 Haitian children from the US base at Guantanamo, Cuba on May 16 Over 350 unaccompanied minors have been languishing in prison-like conditions at the camp for almost a year. According to the Florida Rural Legal Services (FRLS), which has been monitoring the children and fighting for their release to relatives in the us, in some cases their parents, US officials have systematically done everything possible to avoid letting them in, even retusing to reunite children with their mothers. To assure the child's transfer to Haiti, in some cases, officials have claimed a father is waiting, when he is actually dead. In others, the youth are released to 'responsible adults who soon leave them on the streets. In many others, the "caretakers" do not have adequate income to provide care. Some relatives in Haiti have been coerced into writing "invitations" to return. Officials even purposefully waited for one child to turn 18, to repatriate him as an "aduit." "Although the US Government claims to be acting in the 'best interests' of Guantanamo's unaccompanied Haitian children, it has never explored the strong support system available to these children in the US, said FRLS in a 30page report, Not in Their Best Interest, issued this month. The US Government's forcible repatriation of Guantanamo's most traumatized and vulnerable children is creating a serious humanitarian tragedy." "Virtually all of these children [have witnessed those whom they loved and depended on most in the world - mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers - being savagely beaten, raped or killed," FRLS said. The details of the illegal, forced repatriations, the brutal treatment at the camp, and the apathy of the UN. High Commission on Refugees are vividly recounted in the report, which also describes how some children were tricked inic returning through "various ruses" or restrained in handcuffs. Some tried to commit suicide to avoid returning. This review is reprinted from Haiti Info Haiti Info is published every two weeks, and distributed by mail, fax, and electronic mail. Subscription US $20 to $100, depending on location and method of reception. Haitian Information Bureau, c/o Lynx Air, Box 407139, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33340, USA. E-mail: [email protected].