Bahamas News
Protest at Office of Bahamas PM; rejecting plan to detain illegal Haitians on Ragged Island
#Nassau, Bahamas – July 24, 2020 – Ragged Islanders today staged a socially distanced protest at the Office of the Prime Minister in Nassau, confirming their outrage with the decision to detain intercepted Haitian migrants at the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base on the island.
During House of Assembly debate on Thursday, Chester Cooper, the Member of Parliament for the island called the decision a ridiculous plan which should be reversed.
“I protest it in the strongest possible terms and I ask the government to reverse this plan forthwith, because the people of Ragged Island have started wondering why you despise them so.
“…This is contemptuous and I ask you to reverse it because the people of Ragged Island will not take kindly to it.”
Communication from the Defence Force explained, they jointly foiled a human smuggling operation.
“On Tuesday 21 Ju1y just before 10:00 a.m., HMBS P-44 coxswained by Chief Petty Officer Acadia Smith, located the 27-foot, white cabin cruiser anchored just off the northeastern point of Great Isaacs, north of Bimini, where it had run aground. When it became evident that a migrant smuggling operation was underway, the vessel and its occupants—12 females (1 pregnant), 9 males and 2 infants, all believed to be of Haitian descent, were detained.”
Unmoved by the promised to repatriate the group as soon as is possible, Ragged Islanders demonstrated with placards conveying a string of compelling messages.
Placards decried: ‘First you deem Ragged Island inhabitable. Now Dumping Ground’ and another which read: ‘Keep Ragged Island Covid FREE.’
Islanders, who remain displaced due to Hurricane Irma are reportedly incensed by a decision to detain illegal migrants in their home island and are restating their desperate desire to return home.
Additionally, the government clinic on Ragged Island remains out of commission since the storm in September 2017. The Member of Parliament used his time in parliament to outline the many reasons the Government must find an alternative detainment plan for the 21 Haitians, which includes children and a pregnant woman.
“If it is the intention to land temporarily and then deport, this is a terrible place to do it because the logistics are horrible,” he continued.
“There is no bus, there are no vans. There are no proper facilities at the defense force base at Gunpoint.
It is said the migrants are temporarily detained at the Defence Force base on Ragged Island.
Bahamas News
Statement From The Ministry of Foreign Affairs – On Order For All Bahamians To Leave Haiti
of recent developments which require a corporate security and intelligence assessment and restaging.This morning the Chargè reported that they had been stopped by Haitian police and relieved of their vehicle and weapons. This is part of a protest by the Haitian National Police against their own authorities.All of our diplomats are personally safe.There also is a report of 5 Bahamians from Bahamasair who landed at Port Au Prince Airport who were unable to leave the environs of the airport. They are all safe and well. The security situation appears less stable over the past three days in the country, and we are taking steps out of an abundance of caution.The pattern of security concerns is one of ebb and flow and these withdrawals are sometimes necessary to regroup. The Security Forces in our country have been alerted to these developments. As soon as conditions permit a team will be sent back into Haiti without further announcement.PLQ
By Sherrica Thompson
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, January 25, 2023 – In what is being described by Bahamian officials as one of the largest human smuggling incidents in the region, 394 Haitian migrants were intercepted by the United States Coast Guard near Cay Sal Island on Saturday, January 21.
According to immigration officials in The Bahamas, the migrants will be processed on the island of Inagua and later repatriated.
US Coast Guard spokeswoman Nicole Groll described the condition of the intercepted boat to the Associated Press on Monday. She said, “it was grossly overloaded and very much unsafe.”
The officials did not provide any further information on the matter.
The recent apprehension brings the total number of Haitian migrants intercepted in Bahamian waters since the start of the year to just over five hundred (500) persons.
Due to the worsening humanitarian, a surge in gang violence and deepening political instability in Haiti, thousands of Haitians are fleeing their country in search of a better life for themselves and family.
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