The Tribune

The statistics in this story have since been updated - the new stats can be found HERE

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY 6,000 foreigners were deported from the country last year.

The Immigration Department recorded a 26 per cent increase in 2014 over the number of persons repatriated in 2013, according to unofficial statistics, which indicates a 30 per cent increase in the number of Haitians deported.

Dwight Beneby, deputy director of immigration, confirmed that officials deported 5,314 foreigners – 4,476 of whom were Haitian – for the period January 1 to November 30, 2014.

Mr Beneby said 2,829 Haitian nationals were apprehended on land, and 1,647 persons were interdicted at sea or by illegal landing during that period.

In an interview with The Tribune earlier this month, he said the department had not yet completed the full breakdown for the year.

Based on reports from the department, some 625 persons, 86 per cent of whom were Haitians, were deported in December 2014.

In 2013, the department repatriated 4,703 foreigners – 3,868 of whom were Haitians.

The Carmichael Road Detention Centre has a maximum occupancy of 400 persons, according to Mr Beneby, who confirmed that each of the four dorms at the Detention Centre had an average occupancy of 100 persons. He refused to disclose the location of the separate facility dedicated to house immigrant women with minor children, but confirmed the facility had an occupancy of 60 persons.

The government has come under criticism over the introduction of a stricter immigration policy, which some groups claim target migrants of Haitian descent.

Recently, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell revealed the government’s plans to require all non-Bahamian students, even those born here to immigrant parents, to have a student permit for the fall semester or a passport with a residency stamp. The announcement did not specify how the policy would be enforced, and follows the introduction of a wider immigration policy that, among other things, requires every non-Bahamian living in the country to have a passport of their nationality with proof of their status to live and work in the Bahamas.

This week, Mr Mitchell said he was confident the government had the support of most Bahamians for the initiatives.