MIDDLE PASSAGE

ETIHAD'S AIR WAYS

Background

My name is Jean Amazan I was born in Port- au- Prince Haiti and I currently reside in Germany.

I studied Hospitality Management at BHMS, Business & Hotel Management School in Switzerland. In 2014, I tried to travel to Haiti to aid in reconstruction efforts towards rebuilding tourism areas destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. My goal was to help Haiti, the nation that gave me life and purpose.

However, my journey was anything but easy. What became an effort to help my homeland turned into a cycle of pain and abuse. My life at the mercy of others and my freedom being completely taken away from me at every turn. I became a victim of a system that saw me as a criminal, just by existing.

I left Switzerland voluntarily during the mandatory departure period

It began in March 2014. At the time I visited Malaysia for medical treatment. While there, I received a Laissez-Passer from the Belgium consulate. This allowed me to travel through Brussels. On April 15, 2014, I took a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and started my journey to Saint-Domingue, Haiti.

Brussels– Unlawful Detention from April to June

As soon as I arrived in Brussels, I encountered the first in a series of unfortunate, abusive, and traumatizing events. I was immediately approached by two Belgian Customs Agents. They asked for my documentation.

I knew I'd done nothing wrong and immediately handed over my wallet and all the documents I possessed. Within, they saw an expired Swiss residence permit and wanted to deport me back to Malaysia.

I informed them that I could not go back, because that was not where I resided. I only went to Malaysia for medical treatment. I gave the same information to Etihad Airline's consulate of Abu Dhabi in Brussels. They intervened for me, but the result was not what I expected. I did not make it to my next flight.

"What are you doing out here?" One of the immigration agents asked me with a peculiar tone.

"What do you mean?" I responded. I was confused, but they gave me no explanation. Instead, I was taken to a secret location within the Brussels International Airport.

Within that room, I saw a dozen others like me, who seemed just as confused. We waited in a small cell to be interviewed, transported, and deported.

It took several hours of waiting before a DVZ agent (aka Belgium Immigration Department) finally greeted me.

"Alors! Mr. Amazan, you may come with me." He said, in an almost excited tone.

I sat down in the office, still unsure of what he, what they wanted from me.

"Okay, tell me your story, you want to apply for asylum, right?" He asked.

"No. I was just waiting to board my next connecting flight to go to Saint-Domingue." I responded.

"Okay, since you do not want to apply for asylum, we will take you back to your airline company (aka Etihad airways EY-57), and they will have to decide what to do with you next.

Etihad Airways informed the Embassy in Brussels (aka Abu Dhabi consulate) about their plan to take over policing functions, but it was in a rather unlawful manner.

Their actions led me to be transported, without my consent, hundreds of miles away. I was publicly humiliated and severely punished and beaten for offences I never committed. I was imprisoned in a Barracoon, commonly referred to as a segregation unit. Without a trial, jury, or any charges placed against me, I was held in five different transit camps, where I experienced all manners of bullying, rape, and abuse.