A proposed treaty with the Government of Haiti may lead to the dismantling of a highly sophisticated smuggling ring of Haitian nationals into The Bahamas, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell.
The urgent need for the finalization of that treaty was underscored this week when local authorities apprehended more than 700 illegal Haitian migrants.
“We are negotiating a treaty that would allow this kind of information gathering by Bahamian police and defence force officers within Haiti itself,” he said.
Minister Mitchell was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday night to address the issue of recent mass migration of Haitian nationals into The Bahamas.
Minister Mitchell said that the increased numbers “leads one to wonder if these are planned and executed trips by well-organised smugglers”.
He added that more aggressive undercover work might be needed to discover what the root of the problem is.
Migrant issues are expected to take an even more serious turn next week when Bahamian and Haitian officials meet in Port-au-Prince on the 22 and 23.
“We will address the whole issue of intelligence gathering to see if we can get to the source of this problem,” he said.
As immigration officials struggle to deal with mounting numbers of Haitian immigrants who are invading Bahamian shores, Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet in a press conference on Thursday said that the government is more vigilant now than ever before on the matter of human smuggling.
“We are prepared to take whatever action necessary to deal with those individuals [who are involved in human smuggling],” he said.
Minister Peet added that individuals have already been hauled before the courts for their involvement in human smuggling.
“That will continue and wherever we find them, they will not be safe,” he warned. So far this week, 739 Haitian nationals were seized in Bahamian waters. Yesterday, 310 Haitian nationals were brought to Nassau via the defence force vessel HMBS Bahamas.
This morning, HMBS Yellow Elder transported 191 Haitian nationals to the Coral Harbour Defence Force base.
Police officials at Crystal Cay, off Arawak Cay apprehended seven of those persons on Wednesday.
There were reports that they were set to be smuggled to the United States although Minister Peet would not confirm that.
“The police and immigration officials are still investigating the incident at Crystal Cay, but it is too early for me to speculate on that,” he said.
Minister Peet also said that intelligence efforts are being directed to identify the Bahamian element in the smuggling trade.
Plans are being made for the quick repatriation of the illegal immigrants to Haiti.
Three hundred and twenty-nine Haitians are being returned to their homeland todayon two separate flights.
Next Monday, 164 Haitians will be repatriated with the remainder being repatriated on Tuesday.
So far this year, nearly 2,000 Haitians have been repatriated at a cost of approximately $300,000.
By Julian Reid, The Bahama Journal
