ACTIVISTS in Miami have ramped up their protests of alleged mistreatment of Cuban detainees held in the Bahamas.

This morning The Tribune was sent this picture of a lorry in Miami. Earlier in the week dozens of vehicles drove through downtown Miami.

Activists allege that Cubans detained on suspicion of illegal immigration have been beaten by guards, denied access to adequate food, water and medical care, and deprived of the ability to file asylum claims while held in the Carmichael Road detention centre that the US and UN have said does not meet international standards.

The protest, which has taken place at the Bahamian consulate in Miami and near the piers where cruise ships embark to the Bahamas, has drawn support from members of the US Congress and a sharp response from Bahamian officials, who deny any abuse and are angered over calls for a tourism boycott.

“Bahamians are quite fed up with this attack on our country, which in our view is unfair,” Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said. “We spend $1 billion in the Florida economy every year. What’s the point in trying to damage our economy?”

Carmichael Road was converted from a school into a detention centre in the mid-1990s to accommodate the increasing number of migrants.

Two of the four dormitories burned in a fire started by detainees in 2004 and some people held there must sleep on the floor or outside when capacity is reached, according to a 2012 US State Department report. It said as many as 375 people had been held there.

Mitchell said the government had not received any specific, credible claims of abuse and no investigation was being conducted. He said officials had looked into a video released by supporters of the detained Cubans allegedly showing men being struck by guards in the detention centre and determined it was “clearly a staged event.”

Six Cubans were moved from the detention centre to prison for “hostile behaviour,” which included sewing their mouths shut in protest of conditions. Mitchell said two of the men have legal US residence status and are believed to have been attempting to smuggle other Cubans when they were detained.

He said the government was taking steps to improve conditions in the detention centre, and is soliciting bids for a contract to build new dormitories.

The UN gave the government credit on Monday for improving conditions, saying in a statement that the Bahamas had approved a budget to upgrade the detention centre and had taken “preliminary measures establish a fair asylum process.” But it also noted that “further fundamental changes are needed” to meet international standards.