9668: Haitians Apprehended in Bahamian Waters (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

Haitians Apprehended

  Released Saturday, November 17, 2001 at 09:59 am EST by Perry Scavella



  Haitians apprehended



  By PERRY SCAVELLA

  Guardian Staff Reporter



  Royal Bahamas Defence officials reported that 106 males and 21 females 
were discovered on board a
  40-foot vessel in Bahamian waters, 20 miles west of Hall Pond Cay in the 
Exuma chains. According
  to RBDF reports the immigrants were at sea for six days and showed signs 
of dehydration .

  They were transported to the Coral Harbour Base in New Providence, where 
they were released into
  the custody of Immigration officials who transferred them to the Detention 
Centre, Carmichael Road,
  for further processing.

  In an interview Vernon Burrows, Director of Immigration, said that prior 
to the capture of these
  illegal immigrants, 164 Haitians national were repatriated on Tuesday and 
another 114 Haitian
  nationals were repatriated on Wednesday. He explained that despite the 
efforts of the Immigration
  Department, unless the economic efforts in Haiti changes for the better 
there is nothing they could
  do.

  "People will continue to risk their lives in search of a better way of 
life," Burrows said.

  He noted that a repatriation excercise would take place next Tuesday.

  According to immigration officials, approximately 260 illegal immigrants, 
this includes the 127
  immigrants captured, are detained at the Centre with Haitians immigrants 
making up the majority of
  the population. There are 17 different nationalities in total at the 
Centre. They include: 163 Haitians;
  45 Cubans; 20 Jamaicans; seven Chinese; and five Serra Leoneans. In 
addition there are three
  Dominicans, three South Africans; two Ghanians, Nigerians, and 
Ecuadorians; and one Kenyan,
  Gambian, Nicaraguan, St Vincent, Peruvian, American, and Swailand. In 
total at the Centre there are
  111 males, 47 females, and two children.

  Last Tuesday, 66 Haitian nationals on board a 70-foot vessel were captured 
in rough waters South
  of Gordon's, Long Island by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

  According to RBDF officials the 52-men, 11 women and three children were 
detained at the
  Community Centre in Clarence Town, Long Island where they were transported 
to the Detention
  Centre in New Providence and later repatriated to Haiti.

  According to U.S. paper, The Herald, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide last Tuesday visited
  a sea side area in Haiti where it was reported that hundreds of shacks 
were burned down and gangs
  have been battling for control of the area. According to reports President 
Aristide went to victims in
  the burnt area to promise them that his government would spend about 
$50,000 to help them
  recover.

  With the arrival of illegal immigrants in the Bahamas, the large majority 
being Haitian nationals,
  Immigration officials revealed that each repatriation cost The Bahamas 
about $30,000, plus five to
  seven dollars per day to feed and house them at the Detention Centre on 
Carmichael Road.

  Earl Deveaux, Minister of Labour and Immigration revealed in March that 
The Bahamas has spent
  approximately, $422,000 for the first three months of this year in 
repatriating over 2,000 persons.
  Additionally, Director of Immigration Vernon Burrows noted that in 2000, 
5,801 persons of diverse
  nationalities were repatriate to their respective countries at a cost of 
$900,000.



  CAPTION: The Royal Bahamas Defence Force captures 127 illegal Haitian 
immigrants on a 40-foot
  vessel 20 miles west of Hall Pond Cay in the Exuma chains around 3:30 a.m. 
Friday. Pictured RBDF
  officers escorting the illegal Haitian immigrants off patrol craft HMBS 
Inagua at the Coral Harbour
  Base. RBDF photo by Leading Seamen Mark Armbrister.







                       Copyright (c) 2001 by Nassau Guardian


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