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PM: Boat of illegal Haitian migrants to be turned back BY Keva Lightbourne ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ kdl@nasguard.com: Sixty-two undocumented Haitian migrants who were able to make their way into Bahamian territorial waters over the weekend will not be brought into the capital, but will be made to return home, according to Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham during a news conference held at the Free National Movement's headquarters on Sunday. "There is a boat in our territorial waters that has not been apprehended, but that is in a contained position, and we expect that boat to be returned to Haiti with its occupants," Ingraham told members of the media. Reportedly the migrants made their way to Exuma before being spotted by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force sometime around 10 a.m. on Saturday. The vessel was spotted near the area of Barracuda Rocks in Barretarre (Exuma). It was loaded with the 49 males and 13 females. The RBDF said they all appeared to be in "fairly good" condition. The vessel was reportedly heading in a northerly direction. This latest group of illegal Haitian migrants comes more than three weeks after a powerful earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, destroying buildings and homes and killing thousands of people. The vessel made its way into Bahamian waters at a time when repatriation exercises are on hold. An influx of illegal Haitian migrants was anticipated in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude quake which hit Haiti on January 12. Late last month, law enforcement officials were able to capture a large group of Haitian migrants in the Coral Harbour and Adelaide areas after they landed illegally. But unlike this latest group, 49 of those illegal Haitian migrants were charged in court before Magistrate Roger Gomez with illegal landing. They were a part of a larger group of 56, which included 43 males, 10 females and three children. The men were sent to prison for six months, and the women were sent to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, along with the children. Prime Minister Ingraham made the decision that Haitian migrants who fled the country after the quake would not be held at the Carmichael Road Detention Center, but be charged and imprisoned. Ingraham explained that this would allow the government to hold them for longer periods than usual. He added that repatriating them to Haiti under the current conditions there would be too insensitive.
Monday February 08, 2010 |
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