An official at the Department of Immigration entreated Haitians living in the shantytowns of the Mud and Pigeon Pea in Abaco to begin applying for citizenship as measures are being taken to expedite the process.
Jerome Hutcheson, senior immigration officer for Marsh Harbour, Abaco told the Bahama Journal Tuesday that he had actually already collected information from over 100 of the residents, who could either be granted citizenship or permanent residency status.
“We have been encouraging them to come in and we have been collecting their names and creating a database and forwarding those onto our Naturalization Unit in Nassau to expedite the applications,” Mr. Hutcheson said.
The initiative by the Immigration Department coincides with the Urban Renewal efforts, which started earlier this year in the two communities.
Recently, those efforts were stalled after public health officials discovered six cases of Tuberculosis, which have since been contained.
Under the Constitution, once an individual is born in The Bahamas to foreign parents, he or she has the right to apply for Bahamian citizenship at age 18 and before their 19th birthday.
Mr. Hutcheson explained that if it is not done within that year there is a possibility that citizenship might not be granted or they might be given the status of a permanent resident instead.
Haitian migrants not born in The Bahamas also have an opportunity to reside here lawfully, but under the condition that they can prove that they have lived or worked here legally for at least a decade, he further explained.
The situation in Abaco has become a tenuous one with some Bahamian residents fearing that one day the Haitian migrant population will eventually outnumber them.
Government officials have enlisted the expertise of the International Organization for Migration to help determine how many migrants are living in The Bahamas.
An Abaco resident Yvonne Key, remained doubtful that longtime problems involving the migrant population will be resolved through the residents becoming regularized.
“In all honesty I donﾴt see it still working,” she said. “I think it is just covering up the problem. It is like sweeping dirt under the carpet because you are giving them citizenship but they are still not moving. The government is not making them move, they are not going into better living accommodations.”
Janet Moncur, who works at the M & R Food Store in Marsh Harbour, Abaco said that the urban renewal efforts so far have been beneficial in helping to resolve some issues in the Haitian communities.
“I feel that a lot of the Haitian descendants who are born in Abaco, they honestly and truly do not know anything about Haiti all they know is where they were born and where they grew up,” she said.
“I think if they are making a contribution to this society and not being a menace then of course allow them to become productive citizens and to also be a part of building our community,” she added.
Mr. Hutcheson said that the ongoing efforts by the government through the urban renewal programme would hopefully give Haitians the opportunity to contribute to society and realize other meaningful goals like obtaining loans and buying property.
He said: “Because, you know, being a Haitian they canﾴt readily get loans to purchase property so by doing this they can then buy property and eventually move out of that area.”
Royanne Forbes, The Baham Journal
