IMMIGRATION officials are still on the hunt for a Haitian man who escaped from the Carmichael Road Detention Centre late on New Year’s Day, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell said yesterday.

According to initial reports, the man escaped after another man, also Haitian, allegedly obstructed efforts to apprehend the escapee. The accomplice, who was on the outside of the facility during the incident, was hit and injured by rubber bullets used to prevent the escape.

Officials at the centre confirmed that the accomplice was subsequently detained and taken to hospital for emergency care, treated and discharged. He has since been detained at the Detention Centre.

“This underlines the seriousness of the immigration matter presently facing our country,” Mr Mitchell said last week. “It is clear to see that there is a relentless resolve by a number of factions and persons to undermine our country’s efforts to combat this issue. This matter speaks loudly to the ordeal that The Bahamas is faced with. I challenge that Bahamians ought to stay resolute and not step back from fighting this issue.”

Meanwhile, town meetings held in Abaco to educate residents about the new policy and the planned immigration exercise on the island began this weekend.

Mr Mitchell added that the Abaco meetings were successful thus far.

“The immigration meetings went well and there is enthusiastic bipartisan support for the new immigration initiative,” he said. “The consensus is that the immigration problem has festered for far too long and needs to be addressed in a consistent, but strict and humane manner. In anticipating the operations in January, some illegal immigrants have begun to leave and some are reportedly stocking up to go into hiding. The immigration operations will be intelligence driven.

“There was an extensive tour of the staging points of illegal immigration in Hope Town led by the district councillors headed by Jeremy Sweeting. Additionally, South Abaco MP Edison Key, North Abaco MP Renardo Curry and Senator Gary Sawyer accompanied the district councillors.

“As for the time frame, there will be a multi-agency staging and mapping operation to go over logistics in Marsh Harbour as the next stage of what we plan to do within the next few weeks. Needless to say the clock is ticking.”

Mr Mitchell also said that he is satisfied that the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Defence Force along with the Department of Immigration has the necessary support to meet any physical resistance against officials during their duty.

Four meetings were scheduled throughout the island and involved local government, Christian Council leaders and opinion makers.