The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 100 Haitian migrants were apprehended over the weekend in waters near Ragged Island.

According to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the patrol vessel HMBS Leon Smith apprehended a Haitian sloop west of Ragged Island on Saturday evening with an undetermined number of Haitian migrants on board.

Officials said the migrants will be taken to New Providence where they will be handed over to Department of Immigration officials for further processing.

When contacted by The Tribune yesterday, RBDF officials could not provide the exact number of migrants apprehended, but told The Tribune that it was more than 100.

Officials also announced that RBDF marines apprehended eight Cubans in a makeshift vessel in the Gulf Stream, west of West End, Grand Bahama last Wednesday.

In June, residents of Staniel Cay, Exuma, provided food and water as well as a change of clothing for nearly 100 Haitians who made their way into the settlement after their sloop sank.

Superintendent Mactavaus Daniels, officer-in-charge of the George Town, Exuma Police Station, said at the time that the undocumented migrants “walked through” the town of Staniel Cay before being noticed by residents, who subsequently alerted the authorities.

However, Supt Daniels said local residents were “quite hospitable and accommodating”, providing the migrants with food, water, and fresh clothing after the ordeal.

Yesterday, officials said that the RBDF has apprehended or assisted in apprehending almost 1,000 migrants for illegal entry into the Bahamas this year.