Immigration Director Vernon Burrows said the occupants of the vehicle claimed to be on their way to Nygard Cay where international fashion designer Peter Nygard has a four-acre estate. The Guardian learned the workers were employed by Mr. Nygard, who is building an elaborate vacation home on the western tip of the luxury, gated Lyford Cay. The workers were reported to be travelling in marked Nygard vehicles when stopped by immigration officers at the main Lyford Cay security gate for checks on their immigration papers.
The 15 people, including Canadians, Haitians, Jamaicans, an American and a Finn who is married to a Bahamian and has a spousal permit, were taken to the detention centre on Carmichael Road for processing.
According to Mr. Burrows, some of the people were work-permit holders, but were not allowed to work with people living “behind the gates” at Lyford Cay. He said those arrested were taken to the detention centre for screening, and the Department of Immigration would contact their employers before any recommendation is made to have their work permits revoked.
“If we have reason to believe that they are working outside of their purview, then their permits would be revoked,” he said. Mr. Burrows said that because they were apprehended on the bus and not “on a job doing something outside the scope of their work permits,” most would not be charged.
The Guardian has learned that one American, said to be on the immigration-restricted list, may face charges. Mr. Burrows said there were two people whose work had been approved, but not paid for.
“There were also six Canadians who seemed to have overstayed their time and we will see that they leave the country immediately,” he said, and only those who have status to stay in the country would be released after their employers visit the Department of Immigration to have them “sorted out.”
The Guardian has also learned that Jukka Vanhala, a design engineer from Finland who has worked for Mr. Nygard for 26 years and has been in the Bahamas for 13, was scheduled to be released Friday night.
Mr. Burrows said the arrests were made during the early morning in order to get maximum results. He said officers must act while immigrants are going to work or heading home, when the “timing” is right. He said those working illegally in The Bahamas are mostly housekeepers and construction workers. Mr. Nygard told The Guardian Friday evening that the Department of Immigration may have been carrying out some “normal checkups” in the area. When asked whether those arrested on the bus worked for him, Mr. Nygard said that he was not aware of any arrests and said none of his employees was arrested Friday.
“Everybody is at work and they will be at work tomorrow and there is no problem,” he said. He said some employees may have been sent home to retrieve permits or passports, but none was arrested.
When asked whether he was contacted by the Department of Immigration on Friday, Mr. Nygard said he was not aware that his office was trying to clarify any “issues,” but that investigations carried out by the Department of Immigration are “normal.”
“Somebody may forget their work permit at home and have to go and get it, but this is a routine issue and there is nothing unusual about it,” he said.
Thirty-five years ago, Mr. Nygard, the son of Finnish immigrants, started a small clothing company in Winnipeg that has become Canada’s largest women’s fashion manufacturer, employing thousands of people and with millions of dollars in annual sales. The Nygard label is one of the most recognised in the world.
Mr. Nygard, chairman of Nygard International, who built the company into a $300-million empire, has a 150,000-square-foot “tree house” in Lyford Cay that has been featured on television’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
