03/30/22 03/30/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> yes, we can call the signals we hear from the negotiating platform, but these signals do not drown out the blows of russian shells. amy: as the outline of a possible peace deal emerges, ukraine is offered to become a neutral country and remain nuclear-free in exchange for security grantees, but

ukrainian officials say a deal can only be reached once russia withdraws its forces. we will go to kyiv to speak with peter zalmayev. then as the u.s. announces it will welcome up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees fleeing the russian invasion, immigration officials say they are preparing for a surge of migrants and increasing detentiont the u.s.-mexico border. we will speak with guerline jozef of the haitian bridge alliance about how haitian refugees are treated and what award-winning journalist maria hinojosa about the haitians she met in a migrant caravan. >> there pretrade like their forcing their way into the united states were trying to intimidate americans. but in fact, what i see is a very different narrative of a caravan. this is a caravan of love,

safety, and security. amy: we will also look at how the western world has turned its back on the horrific conditions african migrants face in among other places, inside libya detention centers, documented in a new book by sally hayden called "my fourth time, we drowned, seeking refuge on the world's deadliest migration route." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations says more than 4 million refugees have now fled ukraine as russia's invasion nears its sixth week. on tuesday, russia announced plans to "fundamentally" cut back military operations near kyiv and the city of chernihiv, but the claim was greeted by deep skepticism from ukraine. officials in chernihiv say russian forces carried out strikes through the night while

air raid sirens repeatedly went off in kyiv. on tuesday, at least 12 people died and 33 were injured in the southern city of mykolaiv after a russian rocket hit a government building, leaving a gaping hole in the nine-story structure. meanwhile, human rights watch has accused russia of using banned antipersonnel landmines in the eastern kharkiv region. this comes as the outlines of a possible peace deal have emerged. ukraine has offered to become a neutral country and remain nuclear-free in exchange for security guarantees. but ukrainian officials said a deal could only be reached once russia withdraws its forces. >> so in order for this agreement to be valid and for all sides to agree on it, there has to be full peace on ukraine's territory, no foreign troops. all have to leave. amy: cnn is reporting u.s. troops in poland are providing weapons instructions to

ukrainian soldiers as the biden administration continues to funnel anti-tank missiles, machine guns, grene launchers, and drones into ukraine. present biden hinted at the training efforts on monday. pres. biden: we are talking about helping train the troops in the deck ukrainian troops that are in poland. amy: a top u.n. official in ukraine is calling for a probe into ukrainian and russian forces mistreating prisoners of war. one widely circulated video appears to show ukrainian soldiers shooting three hooded russians in their legs. the video also shows ukrainian soldiers kicking and hitting the captive russians, some of whom are bleeding. in other news, the cdc and fda have given approval for a second covid-19 booster shot for all adults in the unit states 50 years old and older. the fda also ok'd a second booster for many younger people who have certain immune deficiencies. on tuesday, the house oversight committee held its first hearing

on medicare for all since the start of the pandemic. speakers included the lawyer and healthcare activist ady barkan, who was diagnosed with terminal als in 2016. he testified from his home using a computerized system that tracks his eye movements and turns them into spoken words. >> it is shameful in the richest country in the world, we choose to inflict so much suffering. since the first hearing about medicare for all, our country has been through the worst public health crisis in a century. a pandemic has revealed and exacerbated the existing inequality in our profit driven health care system. it has hit hardest on disabled people, poor people, black, latino, and indigenous peoples, and especially people who live in the intersections of these cateries. and one out of three cover 19 deaths in the u.s. are related

to gaps in health insurance. nearly one million americans have already died from the coronavirus. how much more is necessary to shock our legislators into action? amy: in international news, eight international peacekeeping troops died tuesday in the democratic republic of congo after the helicopter crashed. the congolese army accused the rebel group m23 of shooting down the helicopter stop this comes as the u.n. reports nearly 2300 congolese civilians have been killed in the first three months of the year in eastern congo in . in news from afghanistan, the world bank has suspended four projects worth $600 million after the taliban announced public high schools will remain closed to girls. in recent days, the taliban has issued a number of new hardline rules. women have been barred from flying without a male chaperone. men and women will no longer be allowed in public parks on the same day. and all male government workers must grow beards or risk being fired.

israeli authorities say a palestinian man from the occupied west bank shot dead five people in the israeli city of bnei brak outside of tel aviv before he was fatally shot. tuesday it was the third deadly attack inside israel over the past week. palestinian president mahmoud abbas condemned tuesday's attack saying -- "the cycle of violence confirms that a comprehensive, just and stable peace is the shortest, most correct path to security and stability for both peoples." in el salvador, president nayib bukele says authorities have arrested over 2000 people since a state of emergency was imposed following a violent weekend. police say they are targeting suspected members of gangs by cordoning off entire neighborhoods and conducting house-by-house searches. human rights watch has expressed concern about the crackdown saying -- "instead of protecting salvadorans, this broad state of emergency is a recipe for disaster that puts their rights at risk."

a federal jury in colorado has awarded $14 million to 12 people who were injured by denver police during protests in 2020 calling for racial justice following the police killing of george floyd. the plaintiffs included a man who suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in his brain after police shot him in the head with a projectile. president biden has signed into law a bill making lynching a federal hate crime. the legislation was named after emmett till, the 14-year-old black teenager who was brutally abducted, tortured, and killed in mississippi in 1955 after he allegedly whistled at a white woman in a store. speakers tuesday included michelle duster, the great granddaughter of ida b. wells, the legendary anti-lynching journalist. >> since my great-grandmothers

visit to the white house 124 years ago, there have been over 200 attempts to get legislation enacted. the finally stand here today, generations later, to witness this historicoment of president biden signing the emmett till anti-lynching bill into law. amy: on tuesday, the united nations marked the international day of remembrance of the victims of slavery & the transatlantic slave trade. nikole hannah-jones, the creator of the new york times' groundbreaking 1619 project, addressed the u.n. general assembly. >> it is time for the nations that engaged in a profited from the transatlantic slave trade t do what is right and what is just. it is time for them to me reparation to the descendants of chattel slavery in the americas. this is our global truth, the truth we as human beings

understand with stark clarity, there can be no atonement if there is no repair. amy: in related news, california is moving ahead with its plan to become the first state to offer reparations. on tuesday, a state task force voted to limit reparations to the descendants of free and enslaved black people who were in the united states in the 19th century. by a 5-4 vote, the task force rejected calls to offer reparations to all black people regardless of when they came to the united states. the prominent indian journalist rana ayyub was blocked tuesday from flying out of mumbai. she was scheduled to fly to london to give a speech about the intimidation of women journalists. ayyub has faced severe repercussions, including the freezing of her bank account. youtube has deleted the entire archive of "on contact," an

emmy-nominated television show hosted by chris hedges. the pulitzer prize winning journalist hosted e show for six years on rt america, a news channel funded by the russian government that recently closed down. in a new article, hedges writes -- "if this happens to me, it can happen to you, to any critic anywhere who challenges the dominant narrative." workers at the publishing giant conde nast are unionizing with the newsguild ofew york. the new condé nast union will represent over 500 worke at voe, vany fair, gq, n péti and other plication in other labor news, workers at a starbucks in knoxville, tennessee, have narrowly voted to become the first unionized starbucks in the south. the company is disputing one ballot, in a move that could alter the election result. in sports news, a deal has been approved by new york officials

to spend a record-breaking $850 million in public subsidies to help the buffalo bills build a new football stadium. the deal includes $600 million from the state of new york and $250 million from erie county. the buffalo bills are owned by the family of multibillionaire terry pegula, who made his fortune in the fracking industry. new york governor kathy hochul's husband could benefit from the deal. he is a top executive for the hospitality firm which sells concessions at bills games. and the longtime activist robert rabin has died in puerto rico . he was founding member of the committee for the rescue and development of vieques. he spent six months in prison for participating in the mass civil disobedience campaign that helped pressure the u.s. navy to end its bombing exercises in a separate mall eight miles east of puerto rico and a municipality of th commonwealth. rabin spoke to democracy now! in

2013. >> the peopland the porter rican nation was -- peaceloving people without firing a ngle shot, defeated the most powerful military for in history. 10 years later, we continue to suffer the effects of thtoxic legacy, highest cancer rates of all of puerto rico. amy: he died on monday of cancer. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. the united nations says more than 4 million refugees have now fled ukraine as russia's invasion nears its sixth week. on tuesday, russia announced plans to "fundamentally" cut back military operations near

kyiv and the city of chernihiv, but the claim was greeted by deep skepticism from ukraine. officials in chernihiv say russian forces carried out strikes throughout the night while air raid sirens repeatedly went off in kyiv. on tuesday, at least 12 people died in the southern city of mykolaiv after a russian rocket hit a government building. it left a gaping hole in the nine-story structure. meanwhile, the outlines of a possible peace deal have emerged. this comes as the outlines of a possible peace deal emerged tuesday from talks held in is simple, turkey. ukrainian negotiator said ukraine has offered to become a neutral country and remain nuclear free in exchange for security guarantees. but ukrainian officials said a deal could only be reached once russia withdraws its forces. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy addressed the negotiations and a televised address tuesday night. >> yes, we can call the signals

we hear from the negotiating platform, but the signals do not drown out the blows of russian shells. of course, we see boulder risks. of course we see no reason to trust awards of certain representatives of a state that continueto fight for our destruction. ukrainians are not naïve people. ukrainians have already learned during the military four days of invasion and over the past eight years of the wars in donbass that only a concrete result can be trusted. amy: from where we go to ukraine where we are joined outside of kyiv by peter zalmayev, the director of the eurasia democracy initiative. welcome back to democracy now! if you can explain what is happening on the ground but also respond to what looked like the outlines of a peace deal?

>> well, we are seeing this campaign of terror that vladimir putin has unleashed begins the entire country of ukraine that is continuing, indiscriminate bombardments of civilian areas and strikes on could go infrastructure such as oil depots, transportation hubs, you know, and roads and railways. it is clear that putin remains to be hell-bent on creating as much misery as he can in ukraine , also with the view of the flow of ukrainians out west to poland and other european countries in order to create chaos there. vladim putin, we been hearing signals from the russian federation that the army may be considering just locating --

just locating or relocating its forces to the east of donba. yesterday they announced they would be withdrawing many of the troops, the bulk of the troops from the kyiv area. the ministry has confirmed that russia has pretty much completed his fighting force in the area of kyiv. it is simply not sufficnt to continue entertaining any plans of a takeover of the city of 4 million people with a large area, and so i think it is being stated by fax on the ground. i would also say ukrainians remained very, very skeptical about biden's true intentions. we saw on figure 24th after the russians announced it would be pulling back all the troops. a few days later, they struck. so we are very skeptical this is not just a smokescreen to allow

russians to regroup and try to take kyiv a second time. juan: peter, while the russians have clearly been held back in kyiv, there troops ve made significant progress in the south and eastern end to the country. i'm wondering what your senses of what could happen in any kind of negotiated settlement in terms of the eastern and southern territories, that they are already occupying? >> indeed there closto completing the so-called land bridge that would connect the occupied territories, the donbas, which has been occupied since 2014, with ukraine. the battle is raging over mariupol. the largest strategy vladimir putin is quick to try to divide the country into two, sort of

creating -- it is been compared to the north korea and south korea scenario. [indiscernible] significant supply issues, logistics, etc. thatoesn't mean he won't try. whatever happens, vladimir putin has to have some kind of credible to present to his population, his elite in order to continue staying in power. it is a kind of truism now that leaders -- go want to lose power. very important date is coming up in the russian calendar, may 9, the victory date. victory over nazi germany. funner putin is going to want to present some sort of a victory, some sort of a victory during the parade and that victory may be if he conquers the rest of the donbas and if he succeeds in dividing uaine and two, which

i think is going to be -- juan: what is your sense of the reaction of ukrainians to president zelenskyy's apparent agreement that ukraine's neutrality could be a part of a settlement? in essence, not joining nato, which was originally what the principal issue that russia was raising before it invaded, w? >> from the?, vladimir putin expansion has been a red herring. he has used it to justify his attempt to grab land that is prosecuting in ukraine. it is not really what vladimir putin is after. i don't think he considered ukraine to be a security threat tousa. so ukrainians are willing to meet some russian demands.

neutrality is being considered. not 20 nato -- not joining nato. he's going to have to submit this to the population in some kind of a referendum and ironclad guarantees from western partners, including members the security council, the u.n., to keep ukraine well protected. ukraine cannot remain demilitarized. it has to be well protected. once again, ukrainians are very much ready to negotiate. at the question is, if vladimir putin continues to claim to his obsession to try and control all of ukraine and control his politics and to install -- amy: based on the reports in the russian media to the russian people, it looks like he will claim victory by consolidating

attacks in the east and really focus on talking about donbas and crimea. peter, if you can talk about the history of these two places and has the attitude of ukrainians changed as a result of this? >> it has not been a success story to say the least. even though the defeated population is pretty brainwashed. of is the, russia disconnected the ukrainian tv channels and started bombarding folks with their propaganda. folks living just across the border from the areas, they have seen what it was like living in the sort of mini goo log, the situation they are dealing with. that explains the unwillingness

of the ukrainians living across the border. like mariupol for example, or kharkiv. this is something vladimir putin counted on going in. we all heard about the scenario of -- we are expecting three days to parade on the main drag of kyiv. that has not happened. it has been -- you are hearing this sort of saying in ukraine now that vladimir putin the last month has killed theast russian in ukraine. no one wants to be a part of what russia has to offer. russia essentially is running on a very -- message. it is sewing destruction. it is breaching, creating alternative realities in the minds of the bulk of the russian population. ukrainians do not want to be part of that. and you throughout, peter

zalmayev, in the donetsk. what will happen to these two areas, crimea and donetsk, in addition as ukraine promising something that putin was demanding before the invasion, which is that they remain neutral, that they now become a part of nato? i think there are some broad outlines of a discussion of crimea won't be dealt with for the next 15 years. >> well, that is precisely the sticking point. vladimir putin knows zelenskyy's go shade is between -- negotiated between rock and a hard place. a formula is being searched for such as freezing the issue for 15 years and entering this long period of negotiations.

that is something -- ue to be told, ukrainian does not have the strength right now to liberate those areas. ving said that the will know once vladimir putin goes, there's a good chance these places, these areas will revert to ukraine regardless of what happens. the severe sanctions regime and the hundreds of billions of dollars of russian sovereign wealth fund that have been frozen on western bank accounts will only -- sanctions ll only be lifted once russia leaves the last remaining inch of ukraine's territory. that is also something to consider. amy: peter zalmayev, thank you for being with us, director of the eurasia democracy initiative, speaking to us just outside ukraine's capital kyiv. stay safe. next up, the u.s. as it plans to welcome 100,000 ukrainian refugees at the same time it is preparing to detain a surge of

asylum-seekers from places like haiti at the u.s.-mexico border. we will look at the contrast in treatment. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "learning to lose" by margo price featuring willie nelson. willie, our condolences on the death of your sister bobby nelson. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. immigration officials that they're preparing to detail a surge of people traveling to the u.s.-mexico border to seek humanitarian relief. in response to pressure from human rights advocates, today the cdc is expected to end the trump-era pandemic border restriction called title 42 that

allowed authorities to develop -- dispel asylum seekers without due process or reviewing their claims. just six months ago, the world was shocked by images of mounted border patrol agents chasing, grabbing, and whipping haitian asylum seekers at the u.s.-mexico border in texas as they were blocked under the pretext of title 42. under the pretext of that pandemic. a new report by the robert f. kennedy human rights and the haitian bridge alliance documents the full scope of the abuses haitians ced while they were held in a makeshift camp near the border under a bridge in del rio, texas. they describe being subjected to violence, racial slurs, and intimidation and died sufficient access to food, water, and medical care. this comes as the united states has just announced it will welcome up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees fleeing the russian invasion. when president biden visited with ukrainian refugees in

poland last week, he was shown embracing a ukrainian child. guerline jozef, executive director of the haitian bridge alliance, tweeted this response -- "the amount of pain that comes with seeing this beautiful picture is unbearable. the well-deserved love, kindness, dignity, compassion, protection that is given to this little girl is never afforded to little black haitian girls at potus's doorsteps. trump said it, biden proved it!" guerline jozef joins us now, along with award-winning journalist maria hinojosa. they both worked closely with haitian migrants. what maria calls the moving border. we welcome you both back to democracy now! guerline jozef, let's begin with you. and that tweet, the comparison of how ukrainian refugees are beautifully welcomed around the world and now in the united states and what is happening

with haitians and others on the u.s.-mexico border trying to come in. >> good morning. thank you so much, amy, for having us and for highlighting the realities and contrast between how people are being received along borders whether at the u.s.-mexico border orn ukraine we all saw what just happened how bla people who were trying to escapekraine as well were pushed back in. not forwarded protection. so rlly, i wt to make it clear that we stand 100% with e peoplef ukrne and we are 100% with thpresident and the administration for welcoming the people of ukraine. we want to make su they are protecd. but what we are saying is what is it that when it comes to people of color, black and brown people, we must continue to push

and bag to validate our humanity. and as i mentioned, amy, in that post, the picture really warms my heart to see how the president was holding that little girl, smiling. at the same time, i could not pass the fact that they are really chasing and weeping and turning away little black girls and little black boys at the u.s.-mexico border. so really calling for us to welcome all people with dignity, regardless of our skin color, where we are from because the same care and compassion and love that is afforded to this beautiful little girl must be afforded to those beautiful little kids there also of haitian descent or mexican descent who are flaying extreme conditions in their home countries. i can tell you today there are

deportations happening to haiti, and we are seeing continued expulsion into country we all know are dealing with extreme conditions. yesterday, the vice president -- the prime minister in haiti calling for help because they cannot even control what they're doing with. they are dealing with the assassination of the president, the aftermath of the earthquake, th following climate change -- really forcing people to leave home. so what we are asking d what we are saying is for our little black girls and little black boys who are in such a safe place, literally flaying the same conditions that the rainians are fleeing, may not a war from russia b within their own country. so we are asking for the same welcoming to be given to those who are in search of protection. as you mentioned from the

report, we have 43 people describing the extreme cruelty and abuse that they witnessed and were also victim up. most of the people have been deported and some were also pushed back to haiti, including the young men we saw being robbed by the officer in uniform really mistreating and abusing them. and today, close to 21,000 people have been deported by president biden. to haiti. juan: i want to bring maria hinojosa into the conversation. maria, if you can talk about your experiences in the reporting on the continuing, now several years of reporting, on the problems at the u.s. border, but also not only the racial aspect of u.s. policy when it

comes to asylum seekers, but there's also a political aspect. as we know, for instance, during the 1980's, nicaraguans were granted asylum while salvadorans and guatemalans were died asylum by the u.s. because the u.s. wanted to expose and condemn the nicaraguan sandinistas at the time. your sense of how this is playing out, the racial and political aspects? >> juan, it is great to be with you. it has been years i have been covering this. i have been covering this for decades. decades. when i think about everything that guerline jozef just talked about, this country, the united states, has a narrative that it lives by that says we are an immigrant living country and we love and accept refugees. what we are saying, journalists,

activists on the ground come is that narrative is not true. what we are seeing is in fact ugly to say it, but white supremacy in the context of refugees and desperate people. what did i see when i was in december in mexico and in colombia on the border with panama? juan, i have reported about this for decades but i never had the chance to be on a caravan. when i got to the caravan, the united states, as the mainstream media, our colleagues talk about the caravan as the scary, frightful thing. in fact, donald trump raised to this whole specter of the caravan. but how many is government officials, human rights officials have been with the caravan so they can see what i saw? it is a caravan of love. it is a caravan of solidarity. it is the place when you're

traveling through mexico, if you are black come as increasingly the migrants and refugees are, the caravan is the only place that you will feel safe. these immigrants, migrants, and refugees are the smartest people when they decide to join the caravan. the fact that the united states mainstream media and the government has chosen to portray the caravans as filled with scary,errible people who are going to force their way onto the border, it is not true. that is not what they are doing. they are exactly as ukrainian refugees are right now. they are desperate. they're looking to a country that says they will accept them. now, very quickly, last night i was finally able to get in touch with the man from nigeria. he left me a message that said, bring th up-to-date. he did finally make it into the u.s. but he was held for four months in a detention camp. this is a young man who when i saw him in the jungle, he was

like, "i got this. you're going to do this." the message he left me said, "i don't even want to think about what i had been through. it has been so terrible, so horrific." and the worst part of his travels had been being in the united states in an immigrant detention camp and the disrespect he had to feel. finally, as guerline jozef was saying, what this government is doing, government that says it appreciates refugees, that has a president that will hug a little ukrainian girl, what they did to the family of felix is they lied to them. the u.s. government, border patrol and ice, told him they were going to be taken to miami and when the doors of the plane opened, they had been lied to. they were sent back to haiti, a country they have not lived in for over a decade. so the pleas we have -- people say, maria, you're so obsessed

with migrants and refugees because you're an immigrant yourself, or so mexican. no, i am obsessed with the capacityhis country has for inhumanity and specifically watching how that inhumanity is being thrust on people who are black and simply seeking refuge. amy: the fact that you gave a voice to people is what the mainstream media is doing right now with ukrainians. it is a model of how all refugees should be treated. i wanted to go to your reports for this series you did where you met this haitian family, the felix family, in the mexican state of oaxaca as they made their way north with a migrant caravan. the felix family fled haiti over a decade ago after a deadly earthquake that killed some 300,000 people. they resettled in brazil until they were once again forced to flee, this time to the united

states have a mexico border. this is a clip of latino usa's called "the moving border: even further south," the family tells you about their experience crossing through the darién gap, a notoriously dangerous, dense jungle that stretches across the colombian and panamanian border. éw dead bodies in the jungle, people that look like them. but they had to keep going step eventually, they were detained by panamanian police and sent back to colombia. so they had to do the unthinkable -- start all over again and cross back into the jungle. amy: in january, over two months after you said goodbye to the

felix family in oaca, you received a message from the mother asking you to call her. >> her entire family is now in haiti. 10 years after she escaped the devastation of an earthquake that destroyed everything that she had worked for come after birthing her two youngest children in the dominican republic, after living in south america for years, after crossing the jungle twice, she

and her family made it to the u.s. but 15 days later, the biden administration deported them back to haiti. amy: that is maria hinojosa report. it is so moving. if you can talk about what the actions have -- you talk about this caravan of hope and love. the immigrants rights movement that has forced this action that is expected to be announced today, ending title 42 -- which has used the pandemic as a way to prevent so many immigrants. we certainly have not heard this in the case of ukraine. but coming into the united states were being detained once they do. >> you know, amy, what i am hoping, but i have not so much of it, this was a perfect opportunity and act for the -- in fact for the biden

administration to completely switch everything up. this is a moment where the biden administration could say, we are changing everything now because we are going to be committed to what we say we are. this is a moment where the biden administration could not only get rid of title 42, stop mpp, reorganized the border patrol because we all saw with our own eyes border patrol officials on horses with whips on black people. so we cannot be gas lit upon what your living. sadly, it looks like the biden administration is more interesting -- is more interested to appeasing people who are afraid of migrants and refugees and blood people. and our job as journalists is to say, look at the treatment of ukrainian refugees, look at the treatment of hundred, salvadoran, guatemalan, haitian, african migrants and refugees. there has to be one way to treat all humanity. i am feeling quite desperate.

widelene and i are in touch. she is terrified for her two young girls because it is so unsafe in haiti. for me personally, as a human being, this is ripping into my heart. as a journalist, i'm just like, i'm going to keep at it. i not going to stop. what we are seeing is not just suffering of ukrainian refugees, but the continent. they need love and they need that hug from joe biden and kamala harris, both of them to say, we welcome you and see you. thank you for recognizing journalism and allowing me to get a little emotional. hey, if you lose all your emotion, then what good are we as journalists? amy: juan, we are not able to

hear you. juan: sorry about that. guerline jozef, i wanted to ask you, this is treatment not only of haitians, but you have been noticing also of cameroon migrants who are seeking asylum in the united states? could you talk about that as well? >> thank youo much for really bringing the reality of what is happening. looking into the continued contractnd parallel when it comes to the different treatment of black migrants and european migrants, frankly, we have been fighting for over two years to get pbs for cameron, country that has been in five armed confcts and really sing how the miss treatment of just seeing how the mistreatment of cameroonians in immigration prisons. we were rced to create a fund because we had a $50,000 bail to pay r cameroonian young man who fled cameroon to come here.

we've been asking for tps f two years. weave beenegging president biden and president harris, susan rice to please allow tps for cameron so they cabe free, at least be protected from deportation. they have refused. we feel within a week, tps was provided for ukraine. that is why we continue to push and ask for tps for cameroon. we cannot wait any longer to make sure that equity is a part of our immigration system. that people from cameroon are receiving tps as soon as possible. weommend the administration for highlighting and validating the lives of ukrainians and the lives of our afghan community. but it is past due for the tps to be provided for cameroon. what we say is protection delay

is protection to die. we begin seeing right now how we have allowed exception for ukrainians that are coming at the u.s.-mexico border. i was there last monday. trying to highlight that damage of title 42. i clearly remember in 2020, april 2020 when the haitian alliance sent the first letters starting a campaign to a president ump to end title 42 because it did not. any water as to why they really put title 42 emplaced simply to block the seeking protection. toy we are hoping and demanding as a community, as of movement for president biden to put an end to title 42 and make sure it is never used against

people a the u.s.-mexico border, specifically black and brown people, becse wclearly see we are allowing ukrainians and other europea to access the process at the u.s.-mexico border while at the same time making surhaitians are not afforded the same protection. we really are calling on president biden to highlight the fact that, yes, president trump then called -- said he did not want people from asshole country such as haiti and many african countries, but he will welcome people from europe. and we see clearly the things that president trump said was that biden is proving to us as a people that it is a reality. we are willing and able and ready to welcome immigrants as long as they are not black and brown. juan: i want to ask maria, you

mentioned earlier you are a proud mexican-american. i'm sorry, maria has dropped. then you go back to guerline jozef. in terms of what you believe the biden administration needs to immediately, beyond what is happening now with title 42, what are the next steps you think the administration needs to take? >> the next step is real to look into how we ovide access and safety to alleople in seah of fedom. we as a movement, service providers, advocate on the ground at u.s.-mexico border. we are ready and willing t help and support and work with president biden and the entire administration to put in place ways for people to access safety . and we want to make sure that we

really look into our immigration system in a equity lens. how do you make sure what we are seei right now is never repeated? we went president biden to understand we on the ground, we are serving the community. we are the people in need of protection, making sure we create aystem that will be afforded to al people toe able to get that protection. and we're also asking them stop pushing the borr. right now we are sayg at the u.s.-mexico border, but going all the way to panama as maria mentioned earlier. we are seeing because of policies that are being put place to completely continue dismantle any evidence for people seeking safety. we need to change the system. what i say is if the system does not serve the people, what is the point of it?

amy: i just want to thank you so much for being with us. in our next segment, we're going to go global with this. as you talk about cameroonian refugees, as we hear about nigerian refugees come the same thing, by the way, has happened to those students who were in ukraine fleeing with all the other ukrainians, the millions of ukrainians, and some of them were detained in places like poland and estonia as their white compatriots in ukraine were celebrated in each of these countries. guerline jozef, thank you for being with us, executive director of the haitian bridge alliance and maria hinojosa is an award-winning journalist and host of latino usa. next up, we look at the conditions african migrants faced trying to reach europe inside libyan detention centers.

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "if i had a heart" by fever ray. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as the world embraces ukrainians fleeing the russian invasion and presents a model for how refugees should be welcomed, we look now at how refugees from africa face a very different story. the western world largely has turned its back on the horrific conditions african migrants face inside libyan detention centers. this is the focus of a new book titled "my fourth time, we

drowned, seeking refuge on the world's deadliest migration route," just out this week. we are joined by its author sally hayden, correspondent for the irish times. welcome to democracy now! can you lay out how a single message to you from an eritrean refugee being held in a libyan detention led to your interviews with hundreds of refugees and migrants who were fleeing to europe that got detained in libya? >> sure. thank you for having me. like you said, in august 2018, i got a facebook message that just said "hi, sister sally. i need your help. i think something detention libyan prison. if you have time, i will tell you all of the story. i was kind of skeptical because i did not really know where this came from, why i have been

contacted. like how someone in a prison would have my name. bui messaged back and i said, "ok, tell me about it." this person said there were 500 of them, men and women and ildren, in detention center. they had all pretty much tried to reach europe by crossing the mediterranean sea and been intercepted by the libyan coast guard. at that point, they were forced back to detention and locked up indefinitely with no regal -- eagle records, no way to get -- a war had broken out around them and the guards that had imprisoned them had run away, leaving them with no food or water. so this one message basically led me on nearly four years of investigation. what i found out was that tens of thousands of people, to date now since 2017, around 90,000 people have been caught at sea

under what is an eu policy which supports the libyan coast guard because under international law, it is illegal for european boats to return people to the place with our lives are in danger. their lives are in danger in libya, but if the eu supports the libyan coast guard, then libyan boats to the intercept income than that is not illegal under international law. it is a circumnavigation of international law. thousands -- tens of thousands of people have been locked up in detention centers compared to concentration camps where every sort of abuse happens. the situation is horrific. it is ongoing. juan: sally, could you talk about the role of technology and social media and what is happening with many othese refugees? >> yeah, social media obviously

is the way that contacted me. what happened after that initial message, i actually started also posting the messages on social mea, on twitter and that ended up being viewed millions of times. the result of that was that my name and my number and my contact details were passed around many detention centers. so i suddenly had many refugees in many different attention centers sending me messages on whatsapp, facebook, twitter. the social media, i mean, it has good and bad aspects. life-changing aspects. what i found out was, for example, when smugglers detain people in libya, they will post photos of people who are being tortur online so they can cry for larger and larger ransom.

it hasontributed to how captivity is being monetized. it is kind of raving -- giving people a life i do try to be able to escape these situations. juan: could you talk about how what the situation with libya terms of refugees is like after the overthrow of qaddafi and the nato-backed bombing campaign that occurred in libya, in terms of the eu utilizing libya as a gatekeeper to africa? >> i'm sure many people know after the 2011 revolution, libya has been in turmoil. it is effectively a country run between militias, like many different militias. there hasn't really been a stable leadership since that revolution. of course, had smugglers, human smugglers taking advantage of that in the beginning. there were a lot of refugees and

migrants who come to libya to try to cross into europe. but what has happened since 20, particully since the european union spend hundreds of millions of euro on trying to effectively stop migration from libya, that has turned into a monetization of captivity. so it is more likely now that people -- refugees are being moved around different attention centers or even smuggling gangs come this kind of cycles. it is not so clear cut always. what is an official government associated detention center and what is something being run by smugglers. i mean, they all kind of work together and that includes the coast guard as well. the coast guard -- the eu still continues to work with them. amy: sally, we just have a minute to go. explain the title "my fourth time we drowned." >> it comes from a quote by

smalley refugee who is now in europe. he was speaking about the amount of times they tried to cross before reaching safety. he tried three times when he was intercepted. the fourth time, a few of his family members died. that is what the "we drowned" refers to. the fifth time he alone made it to safety. he even said himself he feels part of him has drownedy going through this process. part of him is dead because of the suffering he has witnessed and the family members he has lost. amy: sally, we will do part two of this interview where we will talk about how the war in ukraine will affect famine in africa. and also talk about the role of organizations like the european union and using libya for these detention camps, what some have called concentration camps, for refugees fleeing poverty and persecution. sally hayden is the africa correspondent for the irish

times. her new book "my fourth time, we , drowned, seeking refuge on the world's deadliest migration route." that does it for our show. democracy now! has an immediate opening for a news writer producer. visit democracynow.org/jobs to find out more and apply. [captioning made possible by democracy now!] ■oññ■ñ■ac

(sophie fouron) we're very far from the all-inclusive hotels here. we're in the heart of cuba and it's very hard to sum up this island. cuba feels frozen in time. of course, the old 1950's cars, and there are no billboards on the highways, except the ones that are propaganda. there are no restaurant chains. horses are everywhere. people use them to get around. but yet, even if it feels like we're in the 1960's sometimes, people get by.