The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

IN RESPONSE to a suspected scandal involving the Bahamian embassy in Haiti, all visas issued over a three month period prior to the matter going public were cancelled by the Bahamas government, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell said yesterday.

He explained to parliamentarians that even those people who travelled on previously issued visas during that time were refused entry to the country at the Lynden Pindling International Airport and sent back to Haiti.

The alleged scandal is said to have involved the possible fraudulent issuance of thousands of Bahamian entry visas to Haitian nationals between late last year and early this year. Mr Mitchell added that the Royal Bahamas Police Force is still investigating the matter.

“What I can tell you is,” he said, “in response to whatever the complaints were is that every visa during the alleged period of this difficulty, I can’t describe it as anything other than that, every visa, I think it covers a period of three months, was cancelled by the government.

“Even those people who travelled on it were turned back at the airport and sent back to Haiti.

“Everyone had to re-apply and an independent judgment was made by the Consular Office in Nassau on the visas. All that happened was that people who had paid were not refunded, because the money is non-refundable, were given a credit if the visa was granted again.

“So for a particular period all of the visas were cancelled and to the best of our knowledge no one who was not supposed to be granted a visa was entered into the Bahamas.”

Mr Mitchell’s explanation came after St Anne’s MP Hubert Chipman raised the issue once again as he gave a contribution to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ new Foreign Service Bill that was passed in the House of Assembly last night.

He questioned why there had been no report or statement from the government to update the public on its findings from the probe that was ordered months ago.

In September, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said efforts were being made to minimise possible visa fraud in local and foreign jurisdictions.

However, he did not go into detail about the actions taken to prevent fraud.

At the time, Mr Greenslade’s comments marked the first time since concerns were raised about the matter in March that an official had confirmed the investigation involves Haitians and the Bahamian embassy in Haiti.

The scale of the alleged scandal remains unconfirmed, but concerns became public in March after allegations surfaced that as much as $1,000 was being charged to Haitians for some entry visas.