The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

SOME Haitians in Inagua have been disorderly while being detained, according to Island Administrator Marlon Leary, who told The Tribune accommodating a large number of migrants has been challenging.

Mr Leary said the situation has brought to light the need for a detention facility in the southernmost island.

 It has also been overwhelming for some residents who have expressed concerns that those being detained could escape custody and “take over” the island.

  Additionally, there is also a fear of the spread of COVID-19 and cholera. The official said there was currently an outbreak of cholera in Haiti, so health officials were keeping a watchful eye and have separated sick people from those who are healthy.

 Mr Leary was contacted yesterday after a video and voice note were shared on social media platforms purportedly giving some insight into the ongoing situation.

 In the video, a group of Haitians being held under a tent appeared to be rowdy. A man was heard saying the detainees “run hot, (and) retaliate out here”. A separate voice note claimed residents were overwhelmed.

 Asked about it yesterday, the island administrator said both the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Department of Immigration officers had done a good job bringing order.

 “Any time you have a large number of persons you’ll always have persons with lil’ discrepancies or lil’ arguments or whatever and get lil’ riled up, but immigration and defence force, they controlled the situation, and everyone is back to normal right now,” Mr Leary said.

 Since last Wednesday, more than 900 Haitians have been apprehended by local officials.

 About 500 migrants are said to be detained in Inagua, again raising the issue of needing a detention facility on the small island.

 “We don’t have the proper facilities,” Mr Leary told The Tribune. “We have to make use and make do with whatever facilities we have.

 “The thing is we don’t have a real detention centre like Nassau, so a detention centre is needed, but we make do with what we have.

 “This is a large operation. The migrants have to be processed and they have to be taken before the courts and all that kind of stuff so it’s a lot of work.

 He continued: “…It was known prior to this that we need a facility here even though this is probably the most that you would have had at one particular time, but it really highlights even more the need for a facility here. This is the southern border.”

 Residents on the island have had mixed feelings about the situation.

 According to the administrator, some have expressed fears. Inagua has a population of about 900 residents.

 “Some persons have been saying they are afraid the island could be taken over and there could be a shortage of supplies and things like that. Like in any other kind of situation there would be that kind of concern because you see a bunch of persons coming here illegally you have that concern,” he said.

 Novelete Turnquest was among those who yesterday said she believed that Inagua could not handle large numbers of migrants.

 “It’s never happened before and I don’t think we are in the position to handle it,” Ms Turnquest said yesterday. “We’ve been having migrants for years and it was never to this magnitude so right now you can’t say what could happen from what can’t happen you could only hope for the best.

 “Some are in fear, of course. Some of the migrants started to carry on yesterday shouting out and stuff like that and so some people were like it’s getting out of hand. So, there were a few keeping watch in case anything happened and that is to be expected. People want what’s best for Inagua and we are not used to this. We are used to being peaceful people, but if it comes to a place where we have to take things into our own hands, I am quite sure Inagua people are not afraid of it.”

 Another resident, who did not want to be named, said the government should do whatever is necessary to help the Haitian nationals who have fled their native land in search of a better life here in The Bahamas.

 She said: “I feel that Haitians are humans just like us. Can you imagine what they are going through?

 “I feel like the government needs to find a mass of land to give them because they are spending more money having to take them back to Haiti and it’s going to be a problem for a very long time because in the space of one week you see how many of them came to Inagua?

 “You can’t help everybody, but help some. They had something with the Haitians singing their national anthem yesterday, but I don’t think it was anything to put fear,” she also said.

 The country is experiencing an influx of migrants from Haiti due to increasing social and political turmoil there.