By JASMIN BONIMY, Guardian Staff Reporter
Jasmin@nasguard.com
Security forces are expecting a surge in illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the country during the holiday season.
Lieutenant Darren Henfield, Press Liaison officer for The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), revealed the depth of the problem in a recent interview with The Nassau Guardian.
"This time of the year, it is not unusual for us to see quite a bit of movement in illegal immigration," said Lieutenant Henfield. "In fact it's been perennial."
Lieutenant Henfield insisted that his department is doing all it can to stem the flow of Haitian immigrants, who have taken advantage of the season's favourable sailing conditions.
"As always, we have our officers conducting routine law enforcement maritime patrol," he said. "[But] I think [the influx of migrants] has something to do with the weather as well. This time of year the Southeast trade [winds] blow favourably towards The Bahamas and it makes it easy for sailing in this direction."
In his November trip to Malta, Prime Minister Perry Christie also claimed the holiday season would usher in more 'illegals.'
The Prime Minister, who headed the countries delegation at the Caribbean Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, told other regional leaders that The Bahamas alone can no longer shoulder the "unfair" burden of illegal immigration.
"That is wrong, it's unfair," he said. "And we have to [communicate]-much stronger-our concern and the need for assistance," said the nations commander and chief during his first official international trip since falling ill in May. "This unfair burden that is visited upon us through our proximity to Haiti and the fact that we are the gateway and proceed to be that to the United States of America, where they wish to go."
The Defence Force has intercepted over 2,000 'illegals' in the past 12 months. December has already netted twice as many 'illegals' than any other month, with 442 Haitians being arrested on the high seas.
During the first 10 months of the year, the government had already spent a staggering $556,000 to repatriate 3,000 Haitians, 47 Dominicans and 27 Peruvians, according to Department of Immigration officials.
The immigration problem has haunted the country for decades, with Haitians migrants setting up illegal shantytowns on many of the islands.
In its hard-hitting series this summer, The Guardian exposed the festering illegal immigration problem in Abaco.
Two of the island's most well known Haitian settlements, The Mudd and Pigeon Pea, are located in Marsh Harbour. The Mudd, the larger of Marsh Harbour's two squatter settlements, is set in the middle of Abaco's main city. More than 5,000 people, mostly Haitian immigrants and many illegals live there.
