The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas has repatriated close to 4,000 migrants, most of them from Haiti, so far this year, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell revealed yesterday.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, Mr Mitchell said the country faces the issue of unlawful or irregular migration in numbers that threaten to destabilise the country.

“The Bahamas is not a difficult country to which to migrate lawfully,” Mr Mitchell said. “There are job categories in the country where the skills are not available locally and the result is there is significant lawful migration.

“There are various interests in our country and abroad who seek to portray many of the migrants as helpless victims and many are. But more recently this is a pattern of a sophisticated criminal enterprise that accepts up to $5,000 a head depending on whether the journey is to the United States or to us in the Bahamas, using not the old fashioned sloops crowded with people but modern vessels.

“The activist community often both at home and abroad stands unwittingly - we hope - as a convenient cover for those who seek to break the laws on immigration and exploit human suffering for selfish ends.

“The issue of unlawful migration has now in some cases surpassed the drug trade as a legal and security problem. Tied up with the smuggling of people, is the smuggling of drugs and trafficking in persons.

All of this impacts a population of 350,000 souls and ties up resources which we can scarcely afford,” the Fox Hill MP added.

He said unless the underlying issues of poverty and economic underdevelopment are resolved in Haiti, the pattern will continue.

“We believe that is the larger issue and are working to sensitize our trading partners to the responsibility they have which is to not pursue policies which create further underdevelopment in Haiti.

“It is a real shame to see the flower of Haiti’s youth being exported, mainly males, 18 to 25-years-old, fleeing poverty which further reinforces the underdevelopment,” he said.