Rashaed Esson
Staff Writer
Several Haitians were apprehended on four occasions for trying to enter The Bahamas illegally following the sudden increase in violence in Haiti and The Bahamas is considering taking them back to the Republic, by sea.
This was an update given by Keishla Adderley, Acting Secretary General of the Bahamas Office of the Prime Minister at the weekly press briefing on March 14.
She exposed that this occurred where Bahamian authorities installed a blockade in the south of the archipelago to prevent Haitians from entering The Bahamas, after the recent spike in violence and the escape of about 4,000 prison inmates just last week.
The Blockade, according to Adderley, for these reasons and more, including to protect The Bahamas, will remain.
“As for The Bahamas and our National Security response, that blockade remains in place to monitor what’s happening around the borders.”
She further detailed the apprehensions saying,
“Due to those apprehensions, some one hundred and fifty-odd Haitian migrants are being detained in Inaugua ,another hundred of them here in New Providence. The consideration is for those hundred migrants who are here in New Providence to be transported to Inagua, and that entire group…will be taken by boat to Cap-Haitien.”
This planned effort however, is dependent on the safety on the ground in Haiti, Adderley says, adding that it won’t be executed if it is deemed unsafe for officials of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
