[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
a557: 37 Haitians Captured at Nassau Harbour (fwd)
From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>
Haitians caputerd at Nassau Habour
Released Saturday, January 26, 2002 at 10:01 am EST by Perry Scavella
37 more Haitians captured
By PERRY SCAVELLA
Guardian Staff Reporter
Thirty-seven illegal Haitians onboard a 65-foot freighter called the
"Philomene Express," were captured
by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) shortly before 1 a.m on Friday
in the vicinity of Nassau
Habour.
They were arrested for illegally entering into the Bahamas without proper
travel documents.
RBDF officials reported on Friday that 31 males and six females were found
on the vessel without
proper travel documents. Immigration officials said deportation of the
immigrants to Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, would take place next Tuesday or Wednesday.
According to Vernon Burrows, director of Immigration, the male Haitian
national who captained the
vessel would probably be charged $5,000 per passenger and sentenced to
two-years in prison for
assisting in an illegal landing.
Additionally, he said the vessel would be confiscated.
Under the command of Leading Seaman Kermit Turnquest, the HMBS P-110
intercepted the vessel,
arrested the Haitians and turned them over to Immigration officials for
processing.
Immigration officials said 169 of the 216 illegal immigrants at the
Detention Centre, Carmichael Road
were Haitians.
Yesterday's interception followed an incident at sea Wednesday when 14
Haitians drowned while
seeking to enter The Bahamas.
They were onboard a sinking 35-foot vessel along with 93 other Haitians
who were rescued by RBDF
marines 13 miles south of New Providence.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Nassau Guardian
_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com