The Ministry of Border Control and Labour has confirmed that 35 people have been apprehended following the illegal landing of a vessel at Governor’s Beach, Grand Turk on Wednesday (October 2, 3013).
The vessel from Haiti arrived in Grand Turk at approxinamely 7:30am with an undetermined number of illegal migrants aboard. So far 31 men and four women have been detained and the search continues for others who may have eluded the efforts of the Ministry and its law enforcement partners.
The Ministry of Border Control and Labour is again reminding the Grand Turk community that it is illegal to offer refuge to anyone who has arrived in the Turks and Caicos Islands illegally. Under Section 70 of the Immigration Ordinance:
Any person who knowingly harbours any person who is in the Islands in contravention of the (Immigration) Ordinance commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $10,000, imprisonment for a period of two years or both.
The Ministry will provide updates as soon as additional information is available.
