The Bahamian government is mistreating asylum seekers from Cuba and Haiti by not giving them forms in their own language and by detaining their children for prolonged periods without much exercise and education, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
Last year, only four people were granted refugee status in the Bahamas, a nation of 700 islands off the coast of Florida, the group said.
“One woman said she did not want to ask for asylum because of the conditions that her child was living in,” said the report by the London-based group, which sent a research delegation to the Bahamas last year.
“The delegation was repeatedly told by detainees, particularly those from Jamaica and Cuba, that their situation … was so distressing that they wanted to go home.”
The Bahamas is less than 60 miles away from the Florida coast, making it a popular launching point for illegal migrants from Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba.
The Bahamian government responded to the Amnesty report, calling it unbalanced and inconsiderate of the country’s crumbling infrastructure.
“The report mentions some things which are true and some things which are not true,” said Mark Wilson, permanent secretary for the National Security Ministry. “Our overall reaction is the report lacks balance.”
The report said the island nation was negligent when interviewing would-be asylum seekers, sometimes giving English forms to illiterate, Creole-speaking Haitians or to Spanish-speaking Cubans.
When dealing with Cuban migrants, Bahamian authorities sent information about them — including names, addresses and photos — to the Havana government within 72 hours of their arrival, the report said.
“Amnesty International is concerned that if the authorities provide this information prior to considering protection needs, they may potentially put the detainees and the families of the detainees at risk,” it said.
Wilson said authorities are obligated to notify foreign governments if their nationals are being deported. Unlike the United States, the Bahamas does not offer Cubans de facto asylum.
Like other Caribbean nations, the cash-strapped Bahamas has struggled to make due with an antiquated detention system as illegal immigration and low-level crime grow.
One in every 200 Bahamians is in prison, the eighth-highest rate in the world, Amnesty International said.
Non-migrant children detained on minor charges such as vagrancy were put into the former British colony’s main prison with adult inmates, the report said.
The Bahamas is trying to alleviate overcrowding but it needs $50 million for a new 1,000-cell maximum security prison, Wilson said.
The report also said poor prison conditions contributed to last year’s death of Polish inmate Kazimierz Kwasiborski from an asthma attack.
“Simple actions in the Kwasiborski’s case — provision of a medical inhaler, earlier intervention by prison and immigration officers, prompt access to legal advice, an interpreter and family — may have meant the difference between life and death,” the report said.
Wilson countered that a doctor was on call for inmates 24 hours a day.
By Dominic Duncombe, The Associated Press
