Photo credit: Devex
5. “’Haiti Is One of Us; It’s Just Not Africa Enough’: The Africa Union Denies Haiti Membership“
In May, Haiti requested to join the African Union (AU), but by May 17th, it released a statement declining the request. The AU said it was impossible for it to accept Haiti as its member since Article 29.1 of its Constitution stipulates that only African states can be full members.
However, this decision was largely criticized as unfair to the Caribbean state, which has a population that is mostly Black people of African descent. Many argued that the aforementioned law relies on geography instead of ideology as well as physical location instead of identity. In addition, critics consider an “African state” to be a mere expression of geographical boundaries running across the African continent.
The rejection meant that Haiti will continue to be an observer member without voting or proposal rights, a status it has held since 2012. Most Haitians are descendants of African slaves that were sold off to the West during the TransAtlantic Slave Trade.
