Providing more details on an issue that the Free National Movement insisted led to a diplomatic crisis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said in the House of Assembly yesterday that the United States had no legal authority to get involved in the Cuban detention issue.
"This was a matter involving Cuban citizens who were illegal migrants to The Bahamas," said Minister Mitchell, who reported in the House of Assembly on the release of two Cuban doctors from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre on Tuesday, more than 10 months after they were picked up in Bahamian waters.
"Nevertheless, in the interest of comity we advised those who contacted us (in the United States) that The Bahamas would review the matter further if the individuals concerned made a request. The individuals themselves had standing."
Minister Mitchell also said that Dr. Marialys Darias Mesa and Dr. David Aquino Gonazelz Mejais, who were picked up by the US Coast Guard, were in possession of US visas although those visas may have expired.
"Nevertheless, the Coast Guard insisted on handing these individuals over to The Bahamas," he said.
Minister Mitchell said that the procedures for screening the immigrants were completed by June 2005, and both the Department of Immigration and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees had determined that the doctors did not qualify for political refugee status.
"It is important to note also that neither individual asserted a claim of political asylum at that time," he told House members. "It was only after the Cuban government was notified that they were to be returned to their home country, Cuba, that the United States of America requested on behalf of families of the two people that they be paroled out on humanitarian grounds to the United States."
His comments came two days after U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood expressed concerns that the doctors had been detained so long. But Mr. Rood also stressed that he was confident that the Government of The Bahamas was making the right moves on the matter.
In recent weeks, the two doctors were at the heart of a firestorm with powerful lobbyists in the United States demanding that they be released.
On Tuesday, Bahamian immigration officials escorted the Cubans to Jamaica where they boarded a private aircraft and headed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It brought to an end their 10-month long detention, but it did not bring conclusion to the volley of criticisms the government faced over the matter.
In the House of Assembly yesterday, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who leads the Official Opposition, insisted that the government could have resolved this issue a long time ago.
Mr. Ingraham said that he understood that the Government of The Bahamas knew that the Cubans had legal status in the United States.
"Once [that fact was] known the government was in a position to make a decision," he said. "It chose not to do so."
But Minister Mitchell insisted that that assertion was "patently false".
He reiterated that a decision had been made in June 2005 to repatriate the Cubans, but the Americans intervened.
However, Mr. Ingraham pressed on, suggesting that the government's alleged inaction fueled a diplomatic crisis. He questioned whether the United States had been willing to facilitate the departure of the immigrants last June.
Mr. Ingraham said he had learnt that last June, the United States authorities were not willing to facilitate the entry of the Cuban doctors into the U.S. as they did on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day when he made his communication to parliament, Minister Mitchell said it is "foolishness and commentary rooted in ignorance" for anyone to suggest that The Bahamas was more afraid of Cuban President Fidel Castro than valuing friendship with the United States.
"I have said also that when two sovereign countries make an agreement, they are bound by that agreement," Minister Mitchell said. "It is not in the interest of The Bahamas to either engage in or participate in a war of words and rhetoric with partisans from Cuba who are �migr�s in another country. That is not a battle for The Bahamas."
He noted that the Government of Cuba and the Government of the United States – like the governments of Cuba and the Bahamas – have a migration accord that allows the U.S. authorities to repatriate Cuban migrants from the high seas back to Cuba.
"Both countries honour their agreements despite their political differences," Minister Mitchell said. "The Bahamas honours its agreements as well. In that we are no different than the United States."
As it regards the issue with the Cuban doctors, the foreign affairs minister said the Bahamas government decided to respond with a "diplomatic initiative, maturely".
"Those who suggested that this matter adversely affected US/Bahamas relations should note that a formal visit by [Florida Governor Jeb Bush] took place during the time that this was unfolding and during the meeting there were intense and positive discussions on the matter," he said.
Prime Minister Perry Christie, who commented on the controversy as well in the House of Assembly yesterday, noted that prime ministers often make decisions that everyone is not happy with.
However, Mr. Christie said, "On this occasion, I think the Government of The Bahamas has acted manifestly in the best interest of the country."
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
