143 people of Haitian origin including unaccompanied minors, provided with a Covid test of less than 72 hours, presented themselves in Saint-Laurent du Maroni, a town on the border with French Guiana and were authorized to cross the Iracoubo road checkpoint (Covid control) in order to reach the Cayenne asylum seekers reception platform within a maximum of 48 hours

In a press release from the prefecture qualifies these Haitian nationals seeking asylum from Suriname as "mass arrival". This sudden migratory flow was caused by the arrival of 6 charter flights in Suriname totaling 600 Haitian passengers on tourist visas. The Prefecture recalls the will of the French State to "fight against illegal immigration, its abuses and its drifts" and underlines "beyond the individual administrative treatment of asylum seekers, whose deadline has been reduced to two months [...] Investigations are being carried out both in France and also in Suriname, in order to determine the possible existence of criminal networks specializing in human trafficking."

Note that following this massive and abnormal arrival of Haitians in two weeks, President Santokhi suspended all flights from Haiti until further notice related to the results of an ongoing investigation...

At the origin of this sudden flow of migrants is a Haitian businessman residing in Suriname Jean Mixon aka "Saya". If he recognizes the involvement of his Foundation "Team Haiti Foundation" he denies being involved in human trafficking explaining "I help my compatriots and I organize charter flights, but I am not involved. in human trafficking [...] What they do next is not my problem. If France doesn't want them, they can send them back. You cannot hold me responsible for what they do. If you go on vacation to the Netherlands, your travel agent won't be held responsible if you visit another country, right ?"

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33614-haiti-flash-suriname-suspends-all-flights-from-haiti.html

S/ HaitiLibre