The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

FORMER Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield urged government to state how it plans to address the increase in illegal migrants from Haiti.

 After comments from Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis rejecting the idea of absorbing illegal immigrants from Haiti due to lack of resources after the death of several of them at sea in July, Mr Henfield said he believes there must be a more strategic effort taken to address the issue.

 “We want to know what the government plans to do to address the ongoing situation with which we believe will inspire more Haitians to take this dangerous journey in search of a better life,” he said yesterday during a Free National Movement press conference.

 “In our administration, the last administration and the PLP administration before us, high level Cabinet delegations went to Haiti to speak with the Haitian government concerning some initiatives that might be entered into to encourage Haitian migrants to remain at home and not risk their lives,” he said.

 For his part, FNM leader Michael Pintard said some of the initiatives discussed were farming and encouraging Bahamian companies to establish themselves in Haiti.

 “We thought initiatives like this could’ve gone a long way in helping to encourage Haitians to stay at home with an opportunity for employment at home,” he said.

 He added that while the use of Maritime Law enforcement is good, it might not be sufficient to mitigate the problem in The Bahamas.

 “My former colleagues in the Defense force assure us on a daily basis that they are doing all that they can to hold the frontline and mitigate illegal immigrants in The Bahamas. But Maritime Law enforcement alone, we at the Free National Movement, don’t believe will cut it in this instance.”

 In July, police said some 50 people were travelling in rough seas near Blackbeard’s Cay on a 33ft twin engine vessel when it overturned resulting in the death of 17 Haitian migrants.

 Officers suspected the boat had been travelling to Miami as a part of a human smuggling operation.

 The incident brought attention to the continued rise in the crisis in Haiti involving gang related violence that many citizens risk their lives to escape from, oftentimes illegally voyaging Caribbean waters.