16155: Schweissing: 22 Haitian sloops seized in Nassau Harbour (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

22 sloops seized in harbour

Captains and crews fined for illegal trading

By KHASHAN POITIER Guardian Staff Reporter

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force seized 22 Haitian sloops in Nassau Harbour
for illegally selling goods in The Bahamas on Wednesday.

The crews aboard the sloops claimed to be traders who frequent the southern
Bahamas, particularly Inagua.

However, they were found to have a large number of undocumented Haitian
nationals aboard their vessels.

The vessels had in total about 100 people, 20 of whom were without proper
visa documentation. Three captains were fined $500 apiece, with each crew
member being fined $300 and the vessels $500.

The Haitians found without visas were taken to the Port Authority at the
Prince George Dock for processing.

Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet said this incident is part
of the Government's ongoing battle with the influx of illegal migrants to
the country, particularly from Haiti.

The Minister said the government is hopeful that the recent signing of a
treaty between The Bahamas and Haiti will relieve the pressure and financial
strain immigration has on the country.

"Things are very bad, and the economy is still very, very bad," he said of
Haiti. "The Government has said on many occasions that the economy is in a
very poor state," he said.

According to the boat captains, it is for this reason they travel to The
Bahamas to trade their goods.

Caption: IN PORT — Several of the 22 seized Haitian sloops are pictured on
Wednesday, tied up at Prince George Dock.

Posted Thursday 17 July, 2003

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