Almost 260 Haitian migrants were apprehended by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) yesterday and crammed under makeshift shelters in the front and middle sections of the 198-foot HMBS Bahamas, anchored 18 miles off the Exuma chain.
The vessel became a temporary holding facility last night for the 257 Haitian migrants, who were picked up by the RBDF in two separate apprehension exercises throughout the day.
And as the sun set yesterday, the RBDF vessel P-49, which brought 93 of the migrants to the HMBS Bahamas, set out to attempt to apprehend another Haitian vessel sighted just yesterday afternoon.
The media were given rare access to the apprehension exercise yesterday and rode with the RBDF more than 40 miles south of New Providence to where HMBS Bahamas was anchored and holding the migrants.
Aboard HMBS Bahamas 37 women sat separate from the men toe to toe, back to back and side to side under a shelter mid-ship, put up by the RBDF to prevent the women from receiving direct exposure to the sun.
