The Government of the Bahamas appears hopeful that the inauguration of Haitian President-elect Rene Preval in May will allow the conclusion of a bilateral agreement negotiated in 2003, which may help stem the seemingly unending flow of illegal economic migrants from Haiti to The Bahamas.
It would be the fourth incarnation of a bilateral agreement between Haiti and The Bahamas covering various aspects of migration; the three previous documents, signed in 1971, 1985 and 1995, are now defunct.
The 2003 agreement was negotiated with Haiti under the presidency of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and was left unsigned when Mr. Aristide left office.
According to Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, “that accord still stands, and we would like, once constitutional authority is returned to Haiti, to conclude that accord, (and) to sign it.”
“It has certain provisions about regulating labour flows from Haiti and the Haitian government will have certain responsibilities with regard to stopping the flow,” he said.
In March, Mr. Mitchell met with Mr. Preval in New York where both men were addressing the United Nations. However, Mr. Mitchell declined to say whether there was a definite agreement between the two governments concerning the accords.
“I think it’s a little too early for him to be talking about the question of bilateral agreements between (Haiti and The Bahamas),” Mr. Mitchell said, pointing out that Mr. Preval will not be inaugurated until May 14.
“He’s interested in making an early visit to Nassau to discuss with us a whole number of matters.”
While the 2003 document remains unsigned, it will likely share common ground with the defunct agreements.
Pages one through 10 of the 11-page 1971 agreement dealt with labour recruitment of Haitian workers for work in the Bahamas, setting out extensive guidelines for how such an arrangement would work.
These guidelines included provisions for Haitian officials to inspect working and living conditions for contract workers, and for those potential contract workers to produce police certificates and undergo physical examinations, among other things.
“The government of the Bahama Islands would issue the normal work permit to such persons as have been recruited in accordance with the procedure established herein and inform the Haitian Consulate of those Haitian nationals to whom work permits were issued,” the agreement stated.
The remainder of the document, a little over a page, dealt with repatriation, and then only of those contract workers who are not engaged in work for whatever reasons.
The ’71 accord also contains the following passage:
“The Bahamas government would, if it thinks fit, regularize the immigration status of any Haitian national who may now be residing in the Bahamas.”
The preamble to the 1985 agreement speaks of a desire to “strengthen ties between (Haiti and the Bahamas)” and notes that matters not dealt with specifically in the agreement are subject to “the rules and principles of general international law.”
The ’85 agreement launched immediately into the illegal immigration discussion, with both parties agreeing to “take all measures” to assure the proper “control of illegal arrivals and departures of their nationals in and from their respective territories,” and to “prevent illegal emigration of their nationals by sea or air.”
Article Two provided a definition for who was to be determined an “illegal immigrant” – anyone found in either territory without proper documentation – and guidelines under which such immigrants were to be repatriated. Article Five provided for the “immediate repatriation of Haitians who arrive illegally in The Bahamas” after the signing of the ’85 agreement.
Article Two also provided for a sort of amnesty, mandating the Bahamian government to give legal status to any Haitian in the Bahamas who did not have a criminal record, were employed at the time of the signing of the treaty, were married to a Bahamian citizen or owned land in the Bahamas.
Article Three of the ’85 treaty called for the establishment of a Bahamian consul to be resident in Haiti, who would issue the visas to qualified Haitians, such as those the Bahamas government felt would be required for the local labour pool. These migrant workers would, under Article Eight, have one year to work in The Bahamas.
The Haitian negotiators noted that at the time, there were 6,000 Haitians employed on Bahamian farms, less than half of whom had work permits. The remaining 3,600 had either to be regularized, or a similar number recruited.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
