By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE apprehension and detention of children by Bahamas immigration officials is a major concern, said Haitian Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue.

Mr Rodrigue pointed to the emotional toll inflicted on minors during an “arrest”, adding that he did not think children should be held at the crowded Carmichael Road Detention Centre (CRDC).

He confirmed that the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti was monitoring the enforcement of the new immigration policy to ensure that there were no human rights violations.

Mr Rodrigue spoke to The Tribune yesterday before he left to perform a routine visit to the CRDC, where it was further claimed that schoolchildren apprehended on Friday remained in their school clothes days later.

He also warned that untimely delays on the issuance of residency stamps for people with Haitian passports could lead to a “flawed” process.

“The most concern is regarding those kids, the children that have been arrested,” he said, “they call it differently, but that’s the same thing. They are apprehended with or without a parent and brought to the detention centre; that is a very big concern because it is not a good thing for children to be at the same facility as adults, especially now that the detention centre is crowded.”

Mr Rodrigue said: “The condition is not really good for children. The other thing is the emotional toll on children. Imagine, you see those children being apprehended, pulled from their house, going in the bus – they don’t know what’s happening.

“We are waiting to assess the situation, especially what happened on Saturday, we will go to the detention centre to see the condition of the people who were arrested, how they have been treated, what they need, because there are cases where people have been arrested just with their clothes on.”

He said: “That is something I think the authorities have to look at, especially children, I learnt also that children may have been arrested on Friday while they were going to school with their parents, and they have been at the detention centre, still with their uniform. We think this is very troubling.”

Department of Immigration officials picked up 77 people – including Chinese, Filipinos, Jamaican and Haitians – from various areas of New Providence on Saturday, the day the government’s new immigration restrictions took effect.

Mr Rodrigue said there were reportedly 35 children at the CRDC, adding that the images and video of children being led away by Immigration officers on Saturday have fuelled concerns.

Mr Mitchell explained on Sunday that if children were found during an immigration raid without guardians present, officials from the Ministry of Social Services would get involved and the children would be taken into protective custody. However, the children of illegal immigrants who are found with their parents are deported with them.

“We have talked to Social Services regarding that,” Mr Rodrigue said, “they (Social Services) said they sent a team to the centre to look at the children, but what we mainly want to see is if they can put children in a separate facility from adults.”

“The policy is the privilege of the government of the Bahamas, to take measures, policies and laws that they deem important for them and the people of the Bahamas. I agree with that and I cannot object to that. At the same time as an embassy, we have the obligation to protect our nationals here and that right to protect our nationals is in the Vienna conventions on diplomatic relations.”

Mr Rodrigue said: “Our concern mainly is regarding the treatment of those (detained) persons. How they are treated when they are arrested, if there is some abuse or human rights violation, that is what the embassy has to look at. The (Bahamas) government is enforcing its law, we have to respect that. They have the privilege to do that, but everyone has to be treated with dignity and with respect to their human rights.”

The new immigration policy that mandates that everyone living in the Bahamas has a passport of their nationality was announced in the House of Assembly on September 17.

Certificates of identity issued to people born to foreign parents legally residing in the Bahamas will not be renewed; instead a passport of their nationality with a resident stamp will be required.

Yesterday, Mr Rodrigue warned timely processing within the Department of Immigration was critical given its impact on the lives of Haitians born in the Bahamas.

“The process is starting today (Monday) so we have to know if that has been implemented,” he said “if those who have the Haitian passport they receive it (the residency stamp), and not only that they receive it, but in a timely manner. It’s not a question of waiting three months, six months, the same way they have to wait five years, 10 years to get the Bahamian passport through naturalisation.”

Mr Rodrigue said: “We have to see that because if that doesn’t happen it means that the process is flawed, because you say, no we’re not giving the certificate of identity go and take your passport, and then you get the stamp, but if when they get the passport, they don’t get it (the residency stamp) and they don’t do the next step, that means something is wrong. So we expect immigration to do it, and do it as fast as possible, so those people can function in the country because it is important for them.”

Mr Rodrigue said the last official communication between his office and the Ministry of Immigration was an initial meeting on the new policy with Mr Mitchell on September 15, adding that a formal dialogue would be pursued once initial assessments had been completed.

He estimated that there had been a general ten per cent increase in applications for a Haitian passport; however, he noted this was a general figure and could be due to the holiday season.