#885: Fw: Bahamas stops 218 Haitians headed to US in two weeks (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: markgill <markgill@midwest.com>

>
>    NASSAU, Nov 5 (AFP) - The Royal Bahamas Defence Force in the
> past two weeks detained 218 undocumented Haitians believed to be
> using the country as a stopover before heading to the United States,
> authorities said Friday.
>    On Tuesday, a Bahamian military vessel spotted a 35-foot wooden
> craft near Exuma island carrying 102 Haitians -- 95 men and seven
> women -- who were arrested for illegally entering the Bahamas.
>    Last week, another military patrol detained 116 Haitians in an
> overcrowded sailboat off the island of New Providence, Bahamas.
>    Both groups have been turned over to the immigration authority
> and there was no date set as yet for their repatriation.
>    Director of immigration Melvin Seymour lamented that the
> immigration detention center was in "very poor conditions" due to
> Hurricane Floyd which struck the Atlantic archipelago almost two
> months ago. A new facility is on the drawing board, he added.
>    The Bahamas has repatriation agreements with the Haitian and
> Cuban governments and last year sent 5,375 migrants back to their
> homelands, Seymour said.
>