14275: Schweissing: Nassau Guardian: Gov't to take new approach to immigration (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

Bahamas
The Nassau Guardian Thursday, January 2, 2003


Government to take new approach to immigration


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



By KHASHAN POITIER

Guardian Staff Reporter


As guest speaker on Island FM's Parliament Street, Foreign Affairs and
Public Service Minister Fred Mitchell announced that his Ministry would be
taking a new approach to immigration.

Furthermore, the Government hopes to become equipped with an intelligence
agency in Haiti.

"We needed some kind of bench mark to judge our success on containing these
issues. Generally, we need to take some measures with regard to the law to
try to stop the smuggling at its source, including tackling the people
involved in smuggling in The Bahamas," charged the Minister Sunday.

The radio talk show, hosted by Jessica Robertson, targeted one of the
nation's most probing issues, immigration and how the country could combat
it.

Minister Mitchell's remarks came days after thousands of anti-government
protesters marched in Haiti, applying more pressure on the Haitian
government to quicken government reforms and alleviate the worsening of
poverty.

Due to the increasing protests in the country, a Haitian delegation was
forced for a second time to postpone their visit, slated for Nov. 22-23, to
The Bahamas and with Minister Mitchell. The visit was postponed until
sometime this month.

The government's main objective during the visit is for the two countries to
sign a Treaty that would signify their common goal to alleviate Haitian
migration.

The Minister explained that U.S. servicemen in helicopters will conduct
surveillance on the seas and work along with the U.S. military network,
which gives them surveillance above seas to spot people involved in drug
trafficking.

This surveillance method is limited to Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.

"We've been asked by America to see if we can get the Haitian government to
agree to extend this whole process to Haiti and possibly also to Jamaica,
because of the increase in smuggling of people and narcotics. The idea is
once you plug up one hole, people shift to another area.

So, that's why American authorities are more interested now than before,"
explained Mr. Mitchell.

However, this plan can only work if the Haitian government agrees to allow
U.S. servicemen in their territorial waters and their policemen to be
onboard these helicopters in case a Haitian is arrested.

In an interview with The Guardian Saturday, Mr. Mitchell expressed his
concerns that more Haitians may attempt to migrate to The Bahamas, not only
because of the increasing protests, but also because with winter weather,
comes calmer seas and immigrants may call this a good opportunity to flee
the economic conditions in Haiti.

Speaking about the four males that were pulled from the waters at the Prince
George Wharf early Thursday and Friday, Mr. Mitchell said he suspected that
the Haitians drowned in their attempt to reach Bahamian shores.

The bodies of the first two men, believed to be in their late 20s early 30s
were pulled out of the water shortly after 6:00 a.m. on Thursday.

The third body, believed to be that of a teenager, was taken from the water
at the rear of the old Straw Market.

A fourth body was taken from the waters near Prince George Dock early Friday
morning.

When Ms. Robertson asked whether or not Haiti is genuinely concerned about
migration issues, Mr. Mitchell said although the Haitian government is
concerned, they are mainly concerned about the "very survival of the
government."

"We need to have some formal arrangements which would allow our people to go
in as diplomats -- the Defence Force and police to assist in the gathering
of information," said Minister Mitchell.

"We also wanted to engage our social scientists and educators in this
process."

If an agreement is made between The Bahamas and Haiti, Mr. Mitchell said the
government will make a proposal for a commission that would monitor and meet
every six months to discuss the situation and organise the legal entry of
Labour into the country.

"We also said that we want to have the base in Inagua strengthened,
including the deepening of the harbour, the building of a dock, a new
Defence Force base and a detention centre in Inagua," he said.

Once this is put in place, Minister Mitchell assured that Inagua would
essentially be the "first line of defence" in regards to immigration.


_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus