A ship carrying Haitians and others trying to smuggle into the United States capsized in the Caribbean, killing at least 11 people.
The U.S. Coast Guard said 11 people were killed and 38 rescued in a capsize off the coast of Puerto Rico on the 12th. Thirty-six of the survivors are Haitians and two are citizens of the Dominican Republic. The Coast Guard said it was not known how many people were on board, adding that “illegal immigration voyages” were suspected.
In recent years, the number of dangerous voyages of immigrants, such as Haiti, to the United States in the Caribbean continues to increase. A total of 310 Haitians and 354 Dominicans were caught trying to travel to the United States from nearby waters, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, during fiscal 2021, the Associated Press reported.
Compared to the previous year’s 22 Haiti and 313 Dominican Republic, the number of Haitians increased significantly. Since October of last year, when the 2022 fiscal year began, the number of Haitians arrested by March this year reached 571. As Haiti continues to suffer from severe economic difficulties and political and social chaos, the number of people traveling to the United States by land or sea has increased.
With the number of attempts to travel to the United States has increased, so has the number of related accidents. In January, when a ship carrying immigrants capsized off the coast of Florida due to bad weather, only one was rescued and 38 people went missing. On the 7th, a Haitian woman died in the sea between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the Associated Press reported.