Symonette: Mitchell handled Cubans situation 'poorly'

Brent Symonette and Fred Mitchell.

As of Wednesday, February 24, 2016

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette yesterday said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell handled “poorly” the situation surrounding the recent release of two Cuban men who were wrongfully imprisoned in the country for nearly three years.

Mr Symonette, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration in the Ingraham administration, said this incident, coupled with other immigration matters, including that of Bruno Rufa in Grand Bahama have the potential to damage The Bahamas’ reputation, painting it as a nation with questionable immigration laws.

He further questioned why Mr Mitchell has delayed making a comprehensive report in reference to Cuban nationals Carlos Pupo and Lazaro Seara Marin.

Mr Mitchell has said he is seeking permission from the House of Assembly to speak on the matter.

On Friday, Mr Mitchell called the men national security risks.

However, The Tribune reported that just three months ago, he sought Cabinet approval for the men to be released on parole into the Bahamian population.

They were released from custody last week after their lawyer Fred Smith, QC, argued that they had been held unlawfully for three years at the Department of Correctional Services. They were previously at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

“If they were security risks, certain things should have been done and if he was seeking asylum for them then a different set of things should have been done, but asylum and national security risks are two different things,” Mr Symonette said.

“The fact of the matter is, you can’t be applying for asylum for someone if they are deemed national security risks. He needs to lay on the table the facts and then we can determine whether he flip-flopped, but I think the confusion exists because he hasn’t put sufficient details out there for us to judge.

“But the situation wasn’t handled well. And what’s with this waiting to make a statement to the House? It just doesn’t make any sense. His statement should have already been made to the press. What does he want – the protection of the House? He has never been afraid so why is he delaying now, that’s a question.”

On Monday, Free National Movement Chairman Michael Pintard urged Mr Mitchell to clarify why he was seeking to grant asylum in The Bahamas for the two Cuban men he now regards as “national security risks”.

He also called on Mr Mitchell to make public all supporting documents regarding this case. Mr Pintard said if Mr Mitchell was in fact searching for another country to accept Mr Marin and Mr Pupo he should produce records of diplomatic notes to ensure transparency.

Mr Mitchell criticised the media over how this issue was publicised on Monday.

He said: “Anyone who understands Cabinet government and the law would understand the following: in law the Immigration Board is the Cabinet. The minister is therefore a delegate of the Cabinet.

“The instructions of the Cabinet to the Immigration Department and thereon to the lawyers of the government were to maintain that the individual Cubans recently released were a national security risk. That remains the position today and has not been countermanded. No minister in this matter therefore has a personal opinion. The assertion is stupid on its face,” Mr Mitchell said.

Senator Pintard also questioned National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage’s position on this situation, as Mr Mitchell has deemed the men risks to this country’s safety.

Mr Pintard said in doing this, Mr Mitchell has left the men vulnerable to acts of violence by citizens who might want to take matters into their own hands.

More like this story

John 8 years, 8 months ago

These two again...wait for it...

SP 8 years, 8 months ago

... FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette. Just another Jackass politician!...

Brent Symonette, the brilliantly stupid politician that decided raising $40M for Treasury by selling blue collar work permits for manual labour jobs to 26,668 Haitians, Asians, Jamaicans and Latinos at $1,500.00 a pop was genius at work!

Brent didn't give a damn about displacing Bahamians from those jobs, the ensuing rising impact of crime due to joblessness and the disastrous negative economic impact as these foreign blue collar workers would not spend in the local economy.

Near sighted Brent never fathomed the ultimate double whammy on foreign reserves and slump across the entire spectrum of the retail sector as expat workers repatriated earning to home countries, also causing less volume in local banks leading to their downsizing to accommodate the lessened local demand and lose of middle class jobs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell's herd of lying, dumb goats had no ideas how to stimulate economic growth, so they "was tinken" to continue using Brent the idiots model and sold 48,000 blue collar work permits to raise $72M.

The rest is history.

Brent Symonette and Fred Mitchell's immigration policies, coupled with 2008 recession, unquestionably obliterated our lower class and decimated middle class Bahamians!

Pray tell who and WHY would anyone be remotely interested in anything Brent or Fred has to say?

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2015…

Ailanic 8 years, 8 months ago

Don't get the wrong idea. But to that, if bahamians even does get an opportunity to get a job. They act the opposite of professional, doing a crap job at it. Just notice the fast food chains here to business corporations.

SP 8 years, 8 months ago

Successive governments dismal failure to educating and training the workforce alternatively choose to abandon them to poverty and give their birthright to jobs to foreign manual laborers.

Now they have to ask these same starving, unemployed people for their votes.......Absolutely Bloody Brilliant!

sealice 8 years, 8 months ago

$100 bucks freddy fires back something about Smith and Symonette being racists and it's not an immigration issue that they are equipped to deal with?

sheeprunner12 8 years, 8 months ago

Dont worry .............. Obama will soon solve the migrant issue, and the Castros will soon die ........ and Cuba will go back to the "good ole days" before Communism .......... just a storm in a teacup

TalRussell 8 years, 8 months ago

Comrades I have been waking up in wee hours morning at exactly 3.06 and wondered why.the red shirts party can't seem get their act together..But now after hearing from one the leading spirits from another regime of a times past, I think I got's it now and won't have troubles catching a full nights rest.. Hmmm.
Thanks Brent i will return back to enjoy me sleeps until the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.

banker 8 years, 8 months ago

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

birdiestrachan 8 years, 8 months ago

The very fact that the USA nor their native land Cuba will accept them means something is very wrong. What does Mr: Symonette suggest the Bahamas should do with them. But due to the fact symonette said he can not celebrate human culture because he did not come that way. maybe he came the way of Cuba. All Countries have their immigration laws. Why should the Bahamas be any different. But we can not really except any better from Mr: Small things.

themessenger 8 years, 8 months ago

Birdie, you are a typical example of what has become the cultural uniqueness of our people. Given Fred Mitchell's nationalist & dictatorial immigration policies and the jackass Shane Gibsons assertion that foreign investors should undergo psychiatric evaluation before being allowed in, I'm amazed that anyone, never mind the Cubans, would want to visit much less stay in this misguided country.

TruePeople 8 years, 8 months ago

Most of the tourist have no idea what really goes on round here. We're some quaint little backwards country that seems cute to them... with great beaches. erryting else ein matter, until they daughter ride a jetski and get touch up

realfreethinker 8 years, 8 months ago

Birdie you can't flaunt the law of the constitution. It clearly states that you cannot be held in custody without being charged. Would you like to be held in prison for three years without knowing why or being charged. Fred is an asshole because the same government he works for had no objections to the men being released. he should be attacking Allyson mayonnaise Gibson

sheeprunner12 8 years, 8 months ago

Why are these two ordinary Cubians so important to us?????? ......... ship them to some other country for God's sake (if they cannot go back to Cuba or the USA)...... we ship Cuban athletes out this way all the time

lazybor 8 years, 8 months ago

as usual...http://s02.flagcounter.com/mini/rzN/bg_…" width="1"/>

TruePeople 8 years, 8 months ago

This isn't an issue of whether or not the Cubans are good or bad or not.

It's a matter of justice, and an example of how conveniently people can get 'lost in the system' here. Yes, they were criminals, but they should have been properly charged and punished. If deportation was in order they should have been deported. Mitchell has no documents to prove that the US or Cuban wouldn't accept them, he's just throwing that out there with the rest of his BS.

What is at issues is that this is yet another example of people wrongfully imprisoned for years. This is a crime against humanity in that it's a clear infringement of Human Rights (which obviously don't exist in the Bahamian law books). In that respect, the gov't / immigration dept. should be also seen as criminals in this respect.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Just because someone commits a crime doesn't mean that you can just imprison them indefinitely, without charges, convictions, or sentencing.

That's why the beginning of the article reads "wrongfully imprisoned in the country for nearly three years". WRONGFULLY. it has nothing to do with what the Cubans did, it has everything to do with what our gov't / immigration dept. did. Wrongfully, as supported by the supreme court of this country. Wrongfully regardless of the non-sense Mitchie spewing.

And according to Mitchell, in his usual style, any assertion to the contrary "is stupid on its face" ... Thus, understand that Mitchell is saying the Supreme Court of the Bahamas is stupid.

Those who are supporting Mitch, y'all agree with him that the SC is stupid? y'all must, after all PLP does no wrong in certain peoples eyes, and the law is wrong if it is contrary to the PLP's way of doing things... the LAW is "stupid"...

John 8 years, 8 months ago

Make the two Cubans PM And Minister of Foreign Affairs respectively. Then they can determine their own fate (and ours)

TalRussell 8 years, 8 months ago

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2016…

My2cents 8 years, 8 months ago

What are some of you not getting? The Department of Immigration request was "political asylum or otherwise" to the immigration board. That in itself does not imply that the DOI or Fred Mitchell himself were proponents for their release. To truly arrive at that conclusion, a reasonable, unbiased person would need more background. He said, she said...and now I say (this article) makes no sense and should not be making headlines. The only real source of unbiased reporting it seems is Bahamas Weekly.

When you accept leading headlines without question and biased articles from the lawyer involved without reasonable skepticism, just admit the problem isn't the disregard for the law or dictator behaviour...it's what you want to hear.

Btw, there are laws in the U.S. to hold persons, believed to be a risk to national security, indefinitely. This is what Bahamian politicians should be fighting for in light of this travesty, not arguing for political brownie points. However, in the absence of such law I'm assuming this is what the immigration board intended to do...and it is the right thing. Known criminals should never be granted asylum in the Bahamas. What progressive country would even allow that?

Sign in to comment

OpenID

The Tribune