The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A COMMUNITY activist has criticised Haitian Embassy officials for not doing enough to help relatives of victims of a migrant boating tragedy collect their remains.

Louby Georges told The Tribune the administration at the embassy is a “bit lax”.

He also claimed that Chargé d’Affaires for the Haitian Embassy, Anthony Brutusm, has been recalled following criticisms of his performance in office.

Mr Georges posted the news on Facebook yesterday adding that Mr Brutus is now the “former” Chargé d’Affaires.

“You would note that he was the one who recently misspoke at a recent press conference when he said that there are 150,000 Haitians in The Bahamas. His tenure was one of, if not the worst, for Haitians seeking services and documents at the Embassy,” he wrote.

The news comes after Mr Brutus received backlash for comments he made about the number of Haitians living in The Bahamas in the wake of last month’s boating tragedy that left 17 Haitian migrants dead, including a pregnant woman.

Labour and Immigration Minister Keith Bell believes the remarks were “irresponsible” and “callous” and also called the claim “unfounded”.

Meanwhile, Mr Georges’ critique came after an article in a local daily describing the struggle one of the victim’s relatives, who lives aboard, was facing travelling to identify and claim the body.

Mr Georges told this newspaper yesterday: “Maybe they themselves don’t understand these things - the processes. Maybe they lack the will to go out there and do everything within their power – I don’t know if it is resources to ensure and like you just said to mitigate should families reach out. You know, for example, if they saw the news stories, if the families reached out to them.

“I would think that it would be best to say, you know what, we will take your contacts or we’ll be in contact with us for the next few days. Let us see how best we can make contact with the coroners and to facilitate the process on your behalf.

“But what I’ve found is that when I contacted the chargé for this particular family that is quoted in the article, he simply sent over the (numbers) for coroners and said that they can make contact themselves.”

Mr Georges noted some of the relatives of the migrant victims are not residents of The Bahamas.

“These are persons that maybe at one point did live here, but then moved on to the States or probably never lived here in The Bahamas and so because they’re not in the jurisdiction, they need that assistance,” he explained.

He roughly estimated around six or seven of the victims have already been buried so far.

When contacted yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell could not confirm if Mr Brutus has been recalled, saying no formal communication has been sent to his ministry.