The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE government is working on regulations to overcome the stigma and economic barriers that discourage people of Haitian descent, born in the Bahamas, from obtaining a Haitian passport.

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell yesterday said individuals with a legal claim to Bahamian citizenship will be able to apply for a residency permit at a special fee. Officials will also launch a public campaign, after further consultation with stakeholders, to dispel the myth that persons who obtain a foreign passport are no longer entitled to Bahamian citizenship, Mr Mitchell said.

He added that talks held with Haitian President Michel Martelly during his visit to the country this week indicated that the Haitian embassy in Nassau will be able to meet the demand for passports.

Mr Mitchell said: “The law does not speak to any individual nationality. The fact is, everyone who is a national of another country should have an identity document which ties them to that country. They should also have a permit to reside in the Bahamas.

“The government has agreed that where there is a contingent right to Bahamian citizenship by application under the constitution a residency permit will be issued at a special fee.

“The regulations are being drawn now. Once they are drawn an announcement will be made.”

Mr Mitchell’s comments follow concerns from community leaders that the government’s push for persons of Haitian descent living in the Bahamas to obtain a Haitian passport has exposed the need for greater public education.

The issue of statelessness as it relates to persons born in the Bahamas of Haitian descent has been highly contested, with both Haitian and Bahamian government officials refuting the interpretation given Haiti’s citizenship laws.

Many people choose to remain undocumented, or unregularised, because they believe it would further complicate their bid for Bahamian citizenship, according to radio talk show host Louby Georges.

At a panel discussion on the topic earlier this year, Dr Ian Bethell-Bennett, an associate professor at The College of the Bahamas, claimed that while countries argue over whether or not statelessness exists, and what type, the reality remains that a large group of people in the Bahamas are trapped in a “grey zone”, disfranchised and unable to access basic rights attached to citizenship.

Mr Georges, of the Kreyol Connection, said: “There is no such thing, but persons feel stateless because for a long time the Bahamas was saying we don’t want you, and Haiti was saying we don’t know you.

“It’s psychological, but the underlying problem with getting the Haitian passport is this – imagine a young adult has a Haitian passport which is a foreign document, when he goes to a bank or some other institute, what are they going to ask for? Where is the work permit? Where is the permanent residency, where are the supporting documents to go with this foreign passport?

“There is a gap now,” Mr Georges said. “The (Haitian) passport is good, but the next step is for Immigration and Foreign Affairs to have some mechanism in place to differentiate between persons born here, who have a legal right to be here, you can give them some legal status, a stamp in the passport or something.”

Yesterday, Mr Mitchell said: “The law is clear no matter what passport you hold, if you are born here to foreign parents you have a right to apply at your 18th birthday for citizenship of the Bahamas. Holding a foreign passport does not disable that entitlement under the constitution.”

He added: “There are also meetings planned with foreign community leaders here, and with the Ministry of Education and private sector schools before the formal position is made a mandatory requirement.”