Dr Dexter Johnson, of the Bahamas National Party said the Immigration system must be “policed in its totality instead of only stemming the tide of illegals.”
Dr Johnson, speaking on More 94 FM’s ‘Real Talk Live’ show, maintained that Baha-mians and people living legally in the country should have an identification card to prove their status.
“Most persons, especially adults, carry some form of identification on them and therefore, this shouldn’t be anything new” said Dr Johnson.
“I would say no raids until this [ID system] is completed because you cannot violate, at liberty, International Human Rights provisions without incurring problems for the overall Bahamian international reputation.”
Dr Johnson admitted that supplying ID’s to the country’s 300,000 citizens may cost taxpayers around $7 million. But he was quick to add that it would be money well spent.
“I believe it indicates that [the money] will be considered a reasonable expenditure by the Bahamian people,” he said. “After all, we are talking about preserving The Bahamas. Seven million dollars is a part of the price and must be considered a small price to pay for holding onto an entire archipelago.”
Meanwhile, the flood of illegal refugees has been stem-med in recent years according to a U.N. study.
The UN’s State of the World’s Refugees report states the number of refugees world-wide has hit its lowest level in 25 years. But the report also pointed out that Haitian refuges among others, are still leaving their homelands in large numbers to escape poverty and violence.
“Most Asylum seekers come from countries affected by conflict of wide spread human rights abuses or both, such as Haiti, Afghanistan, China, Colombia, Georgia, Iraq, Serbia and Nigeria, and the Russian Federation,” the report read.
By: JASMIN BONIMY, The Nassau Guardian
