The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

PROVISIONS have been made to facilitate the repatriation of hundreds of Haitian migrants who entered the country illegally over the weekend, according to Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis.

A group of Haitian nationals attempting to flee political turmoil and economic unrest in their home country were detained in Inagua on Saturday, after being apprehended in a joint operation by members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the United States Coast Guard.

Last night, the Department of Immigration said more than 400 migrants were in custody after the alleged capsizing and subsequent sinking of a Haitian vessel off Exuma.

This came after Royal Bahamas Defence Force officials said a Haitian sloop was spotted in the Ragged Island chain on Saturday morning. HMBS Durward Knowles was dispatched to investigate and assist. When the ship arrived, the Haitian vessel, with a total of 145 migrants onboard, was apprehended and taken to Matthew Town where the passengers were then handed over to Immigration officers for processing.

“Earlier in the day, (the) RBDF Maritime Unit assigned to HMBS Matthew Town, intercepted a Haitian sloop one and a half miles northwest of the island,” the statement continued. “Further investigations uncovered 50 migrants (41 males, 9 females) onboard...RBDF officers and marines are currently providing security details for the migrants, who are currently being detained at the local police station on the island and additional aid has been deployed to the island to assist with security, along with medical and food supplies.”

In total, the RBDF said more than 500 migrants had been detained in a 48-hour period; however this figure was released before the Department of Immigration announced that hundreds more migrants had been apprehended in Exuma.

Yesterday, Mr Davis said he discussed the current crisis involving the “large number of migrants who have recently landed on the country’s southern shores,” with the Foreign Minister of Haiti and the permanent representative from Haiti to the United Nations at the 2021 UN General Assembly.

He said he was “especially concerned” about the humanitarian impact the crisis was having on the Haitian migrants as well as the residents of the respective islands.

“The Foreign Minister and I were able to quickly address the technical issues involved in ensuring the safety and security of all concerned and in arranging for the swift repatriation of the migrants,” he told reporters. “Along with other partners in the region, we recognise that this long-term issue can only be resolved by the cooperation of all actors; those discussions are ongoing. For the time being I shall say no more in relation to this situation until I am able to receive a full briefing from my ministers and other public officials on the ground, (but) in the meantime, I wish to publicly thank the Deputy Prime Minister, who was the acting prime minister at the time Chester Cooper, the Minister of Health Michael Darville, the Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe and the Minister of Labour and Immigration Keith Bell for immediately attending to this crisis and for keeping me abreast of developments.”

On Saturday, the delegation visited Inagua to meet the Haitian migrants who were placed under a tent at the island’s police station.

When Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper spoke to the large crowd, he urged them to comply with the immigration officers.

“We are here to help you,” he assured them. “We need your cooperation; we have enough food and enough water and we ask you to be patient. It’s important that you follow the instructions of the officers. We want you to know that you’ve landed in the Bahamas illegally and therefore we will help you, we will process you to return back to your homes. I repeat we need your full cooperation with the officers at hand.”

Right before he informed the migrants that the minister of health would address some concerns they had, he was met with loud applause.

Yesterday, Foreign Affairs and Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell acknowledged that there was a “humanitarian crisis” that could possibly ensue in Inagua if the situation was not addressed in a timely fashion.

“I think that we believe that a mistake was made by the last administration by agreeing that everybody has to go to court and be found guilty before they can be deported,” he said. “There’s a philosophical disagreement on that issue and we are having the attorney general have a look at the law to see whether or not this is something we can review, because what happens now is a magistrate has to now fly down to Inagua, try each individual, find them guilty or not guilty—this includes children which points out the absurdity of it—and then once they are convicted, they are then deported. All of that takes time. Can you imagine trying 357 people, whereas before when we were in office, they were treated as unlanded and therefore we simply withdrew their presence from The Bahamas and sent them back to their home country. I think that should be the position, but, of course. it’s subject to what the courts and the law says.”

Officials said the migrants will be repatriated after they are processed.