THIEVES TAKE TWO SAFES IN Haitian Embassy BREAK-IN

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

HAITIAN Ambassador Antonio Rodrigue confirmed yesterday that no passports or confidential documents were stolen when Haiti's embassy in Nassau was ransacked by thieves.

Mr Rodrigue said the intruders took two safes containing an undisclosed amount of money when they broke in to the Embassy of the Republic of Haiti on Shirley Street between Sunday night and yesterday morning.

The robbery comes on the heels of the government's new immigration policies; however, Mr Rodrigue said he did not feel as though the diplomatic office had been targeted as a result of the measures that came into effect on November 1.

He pointed to recent crime trends and added that the Department of Immigration had also experienced a break-in "a few weeks ago".

"This morning when the people working here arrived they found the back door wide open," the ambassador told The Tribune.

"It was not like that because we were here yesterday afternoon working because of the situation (with new immigration policies). I personally left the embassy around 6.30pm and everything was secured, the gate and door were locked.

"This morning they arrived at 8am, we have a Defence Force officer who also arrived in the morning," Mr Rodrigue added. "They (robbers) damaged all the doors of the office, they broke them to get in.

"They don't take (documents) even though they went through everything, all the drawers, they didn't take any documents or computers, they just took two safes."

He added: "Mostly we think they were after money because they opened all the drawers and took everything out, but they didn't take any papers. (The embassy was) targeted maybe because they know we see people coming here to do passports and other services, and they pay. So they know there is money and because it's a weekend they know we don't have time to go deposit the money, but there is a trend with break-ins."

Several new immigration policies came into effect this month. One new initiative mandates that everyone living in the Bahamas must have a passport of their nationality. It has also been mandated that persons who are applying for a work permit without legal status will need to be certified by a local embassy or nearest Bahamas mission in their home country.

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.

The measures were announced in the House of Assembly on September 17 by Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell.

The Department of Immigration was robbed in September. Someone pried open security bars and broke into the department, stealing electronics and employees' personal items, Immigration Director William Pratt said.

The department's sensitive information, which Mr Pratt said was either sealed or locked away, was not disturbed or stolen during the robbery.