9230: Author has question on refugees

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Dear Bob--My friend Steve Salinger suggested that I drop you a note. I am
an author, presently doing research for a piece that requires some
information about the mechanics of Haitian refugees trying to smuggle
themselves into the states or the Bahamas. More specifically, the story
that I am writing has to do with a ship wreck that happened earlier this
year in the southern Bahamas where some Haitians on a terribly over
crowded boat, died, and others were saved to be shipped back to Haiti. One
of the Bahamian locals that I interviewed told me that there is a kind of
slave trade for Haitian refugees operating out of Nassau; that wealthy
Bahamians finance some trips, with Haitian captains, including the one in
question, for the purposes of providing cheap local labor. Do you know if
this is true or if not, or who might be able to provide some more
information? Thanks, Fred Waitzkin