The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

IN response to claims that seven asylum seekers who sought to take refuge in The Bahamas after fleeing Cameroon because of persecution fears were illegally detained, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that the government is satisfied that the rights of detainees have not been violated.

The ministry also said the COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the repatriation of detainees to their home countries as well as the processing of asylum seekers.

Human Rights Bahamas, in a statement to The Tribune last week, claimed the asylum seekers were not charged with nor convicted of a crime in this country and there was no legal justification for holding them indefinitely. The watchdog group said all of the asylum seekers were interviewed by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and are in the process of having their political refugee status officially confirmed.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement that the country respects and abides by its commitments to human rights under international law, including the 1951 United Nations High Commission on Refugees Convention (UNHCR) and its 1967 protocol.

“With respect to those who seek asylum status in The Bahamas,” the statement said, “there is a well-defined process in place that is carried out by the government and the UNHCR to screen such persons in order to determine if they qualify for refugee status.

“Under the convention, a refugee is a person who has a well-founded fear of persecution and, because of such fear, is unable to return to his/her country. Once the government and the UNHCR have completed the screening process and agree the criteria have been met, the government will then move to grant asylum status (or assist the asylum seeker to find a more appropriate third-state in which to obtain that status).

“It is important to note that the repatriation of detainees to their countries has been compounded by the pandemic, in particular border closures and the lack of international flights.

“Similarly, the processing of asylum seekers by both the government and the UNHCR has been impacted by pandemic related challenges. The government and the UNHCR have remained in close contact during this period in order to complete the process of screening, and the UNHCR representative visited the Detention Centre on several occasions and made no reports of violations to the government.

“The government is satisfied that at no time have the rights of any detainees been violated. It is further satisfied that there has been full compliance with established protocols, as well as with both international law and domestic law.

“Now that the situation is changing with the pandemic and there are more flights and openings of borders, the government, with the collaboration of the UNHCR, is moving expeditiously to ensure that all processes are completed as quickly as possible.”

An asylum–seeker is a person who is yet to receive a decision on his/her claim for refugee status. This term could refer to someone who has not yet applied for refugee status or someone who is awaiting feedback.

Many applicants for refugee status will not be successful in attaining it, this newspaper had been previously told.