THE tragedy on Sunday that claimed the lives of at least 17 people when a boat capsized in rough seas near Blackbeard’s Cay is far from the end of the story.
A number of people are still missing, and perhaps may never be found. But there are 25 people who were found alive, and the question arises what becomes of them.
Yesterday, Labour and Immigration Minister Keith Bell said that only two of those 25 had the necessary work permits to be in The Bahamas.
Those who had permits may well have been in our country for some time – but for the others, many may well have been here illegally, and some may only have arrived recently as they passed through a chain of human smugglers as they sought to reach the United States.
For those that had work permits, being part of an illegal smuggling operation would be a breach of the law, and they could well see those permits revoked.
But at the same time, some of them may have been travelling with those who died. They may have lost friends, they may have lost family, they may not know what has become of some of those who are still missing.
Mr Bell said: “We want to be humane about what we do and how we do things given the tragedy, but at the same time, we have laws to enforce and we want to ensure that we do precisely that.”
Quite what being humane looks like in this situation is hard to say. We hope it means that those who have lost people have the time to come to terms with that loss before any further legal action. We hope that it means access to legal services for all concerned so the rules are followed properly. As Mr Bell says, though, there are indeed rules.
It seems inevitable that the survivors will be returned to Haiti, with due process followed.
Three people have been arrested so far, but it is unlikely an operation of this scale will have been run by just three people. This will be just part of a bigger chain.
Whatever evidence the survivors can offer should prove invaluable to law enforcement.
We have already seen the hazards that those being smuggled can face. Those who run these operations must be placed in no doubt that they too will face hazards – those of being arrested and put before the courts, along with every member of the operation that can be detained.
These criminals are predators, and they should have no place in our society. They feed the chain of crime. They prey upon the desperate.
The Bahamas has long been a hotspot for trafficking, either people reaching our shores or using us as a waypoint to go on to the US. The truth is that the biggest part of stopping that is to tackle the issues in the countries those migrants are coming from. But in the meantime, the boats keep moving – and we have to stop such exploitation as best we can.
Have mercy and kindness for those who have lost people. Seek justice for those who were lost.
Comments
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
When will The Tribune's Editorial Staff ever shed a tear for the many thousands of Bahamians who have been made to suffer a miserable existence because of the invasion of their country by hordes of illegal Haitian nationals and their offspring?!
The tears of our corrupt government officials and The Tribune's Editorial Staff for these illegal Haitian nationals only serves to invite many more of them to come our way and does nothing for the crippling effect they have had on our public school system, public health system, social welfare programmes and our unsustainable national debt.
Where is The Tribune's compassion for the many thousands of suffering Bahamians who have cruelly been made to become second class citizens in their own country because of decades of successive corrupt governments refusing to protect our borders with a very hard-nosed, but entirely warranted, stance to illegal immigration??!!
And lest The Tribune forget, our problems with illegal Haitian nationals began long before the human trafficking trade became such a big profiteering part of highly organized criminal syndicates, both here at home and abroad.
bahamianson 2 years, 2 months ago
Is that a trick question?
JackArawak 2 years, 2 months ago
all the issues we are faced with today can be traced back to one Lynden Oscar Pindling. He had the opportunity to take the bull by the horns but he fired the school teachers and encouraged the civil service to wear fuzzy slippers to work and suck chicken bones while serving a civilian. Every single MP to date (with the exception of today's first timers) are GUILTY of gross negligence. ........side note, what was the graduating average grade in 1973......anyone?
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
C+ in all the public schools except for GHS, and B for GHS and the private schools, i.e., QC, St. Augustine, St. Andrew's, Aquinas, etc. But keep in mind too that the grading scale back then was based on a much higher standard of education. In other words a graduating average grade of C+ back then would easily be the equivalent of an A or better today.
And Glenys Hanna-Martin is in the process of doing what many of her predecessors have done, i.e., water down the grading standards in an effort to make herself shine as minister of education.
GodSpeed 2 years, 2 months ago
DEPORT immediately.
tribanon 2 years, 2 months ago
But keep in mind too that immediate deportation would not allow our corrupt elected officials to bilk the public treasury for the money they are keen to put in the pockets of their lawyer friends who will be engaged to represent these illegal Haitian nationals.
It's all about the money, which is why our corrupt elected officials continue to do nothing of any consequence to stop the ongoing flood of illegal immigrants into our small nation.
GodSpeed 2 years, 2 months ago
It would also help if the US weren't controlled by Socialist "Democrats" that openly signal and encourage illegal immigration/open borders, exciting these hordes to feel emboldened even more than usual to pass through the Bahamas and Mexico.
sheeprunner12 2 years, 2 months ago
Answer ........ Send dey ass back Haiti asap
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