By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell hit back at critics over the much debated proposed change in immigration policy with respect to work permits.

Speaking to Rotarians at a luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club of SouthEast Nassau at East Villa, Mr Mitchell said that though many have criticised the proposals, “what they cannot truthfully say is that they did not know or that they did not understand and that it is not the right policy”.

Mr Mitchell did not reveal the names of the critics but did make inferences about their positions in the country and their recent comments contributing to the ongoing debate.

“You would not then be surprised that the man who has made his political career after one term in office as an immigration minister calling for a crackdown on immigration, is now saying that a crackdown on immigration would be injurious to the economy.

“He argues that the policy is misplaced because it deals with legal immigration and not illegal immigration. He’s wrong on both scores” the Fox Hill MP said.

“It is the need for legal migration that is driving illegal migration. So if we get legal migration under control, we will also solve illegal migration.”

Mr Mitchell also addressed a “perennial critic”, a private sector business whom he claimed “revealed their own business to the country” and “misrepresented the decision which was one that was lawfully given to the immigration board to dispense”.

The minister said there was a condition attached.

“That condition is one that has been attached to many past immigration board decisions and remains without lawful challenge, that you must find a Bahamian understudy as the condition of the renewal of a work permit. If the decision is not reasonable, then there is a recourse in law.”

Three weeks ago, during his contribution on the mid-year budget in the House of Assembly, Mr Mitchell announced that within about a year, the government will stop issuing work permits for maids, housekeepers and labourers.

He added the government is considering the re-imposition of a maximum limit of three-year work permits to applicants and that “in various conditions” an understudy must be identified and hired before a work permit is granted.

The minister further hit out at Grand Bahama companies for having employees on work permits – explaining residents there have complained about foreign workers – and stated: “We will begin to refuse all requests for work permits, cold turkey, unless there is a clear understanding of the need for policies to hire and train Bahamians.”

He also said, his suggestion is that permit fees will “increase substantially”.

However, his remarks drew criticism from the FNM, DNA, and several business owners including those in the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce.

The minister said that business owners and members of the public should read the policy first before lashing out.