Surinamese government has yet to respond to dismissal of Haitian consulate employee over alleged human smuggling

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As of now, the Surinamese government has not made an official statement regarding the dismissal of the Haitian diplomatic and consular mission in Suriname for possible involvement in human smuggling.

With few exceptions, all Haitian consulate diplomats have been recalled to Port-au-Prince and all 12 local employees have been fired.

The measures were taken after French authorities expressed concerns that diplomatic staff might be involved in a people-smuggling network that used Suriname as a transit point for Haitian migrants heading to French territory.

Haitians sometimes pay travel agencies up to $4,000 to fly to Suriname and then take buses to French Guiana or Brazil, the study showed.

They then set out from Brazil on a perilous 7,000-mile journey through the treacherous Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Underage children are also involved in these smuggling operations, arriving in Suriname with false documents provided by Haitian child welfare authorities.

So far, the Surinamese government has not made an official statement on the matter. In September 2022, Surinamese Foreign Minister Albert Ramdin said: “This has not been confirmed so far. It is true that Haitians in Suriname once migrated en masse to French Guiana. Based on this, former French Ambassador Antoine Joly requested an investigation into human smuggling.”

He made the statement following an earlier investigation into people smuggling in Haiti led by former Surinamese inspector Humphrey Tjin Liep Shie, who said there was no casual or systematic form of people smuggling.

However, the Haitian authorities take this matter very seriously and continue to monitor developments closely to ensure that those implicated are prosecuted and that further violations are prevented.