Multinational Force fends off Migrant vessel, 145 to be repatriated

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, August 14, 2023 – The joint force commissioned by the TCI government has successfully stopped a migrant vessel, packed with Haitians, caught in TCI waters they were hauled into Providenciales for processing and repatriation.  The response to a sudden spike in murders, gun crimes, and illegal entry attempts involves law enforcement from at least four countries.

The August 13 operation intercepted one boat with 145 Haitian migrants on board the small blue vessel. It pushes the number of migrants intercepted at sea this year to 3175.

The Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF), in a press release, informed that the interception had been a joint operation between Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OBAT), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and ship-rider officers from the Turks and Caicos.

The interception came after the TCI Government last week called in security backup from the Bahamas resulting in the HMBS Bahamas being moored in the country’s waters. RBDF says this is the second interception under the ship rider agreement signed in 2022 which allows the Bahamian ship to patrol TCI waters with local officers on board.

Once again the group of migrants will be repatriated and were brought into the Turks and Caicos after receiving emergency care. From there they will be flown back to Haiti.

A continued humanitarian crisis fueled by gang wars, scarcity of food, medication, and money, plus a Democratic vacuum, have caused an exodus of Haitians to surrounding counties.

International plans for intervention in Haiti seem to be becoming more concrete though with several countries pledging resources and officers to assist the Haitian National Police in restoring order and fighting against gangs that have taken control of much of the country.