By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AN international disaster relief agency is crying foul after a disastrous run-in with officials from the Departments of Customs and Immigration that led to the seizure of their charitable cargo and the imprisonment of its founder in Exuma.

Captain Ray Thackeray, executive director and founder of International Rescue Group (IRG), told The Tribune yesterday that he was nonplussed by the entire ordeal as the cargo was ultimately cleared by the Bahamas Department of Customs, but he was slapped with an excessive $3,000 fine for overstaying his 14-day visa due to engine failure.

He spoke to this newspaper as he prepared to leave the country onboard another sailing vessel to continue his mission to deliver Hurricane Matthew disaster relief to Haiti - IRG’s sixth mission since the category four storm hit in October last year.

“As the executive director of a disaster relief agency, this was inexplicable,” he said. “Normally in this type of situation the country would say ‘ok you have two days to get out,’ or grant an exception, but there was no help or welcome.

“The immigration officer appeared to be a young, very ambitious officer who I think tried to make some kind of name for himself. He was very aggressive to the point I couldn’t even talk about (the) organisation or try to explain, he was just screaming at me,” Captain Thackeray said.

“Then, when I was in the court before the judge adjudicating the case of overstaying, I tried to explain who I was, what I do, the circumstances. He wasn’t interested, didn’t want to see credentials.”

He added: “It’s customary in any country to provide some latitude and support in these type of situations to disaster relief agencies, but that was not the case in the Bahamas.”

Prior to the arrest and seizure in Exuma, the IRG team was docked in North Eleuthera. According to Capt Thackeray, the IRG’s vessel Sir Martin II and two IRG reserve boats had set sail to continue their mission to Haiti when the lead vessel experienced engine failure, forcing the crew to sail the 97-foot gaff-rigged vessel engineless into George Town, Exuma, for repairs.

IRG, an accredited US non-profit, operates three wholly owned boats in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, according to its press statement.

The IRG Reserve is a network of privately owned boats who sign up and are accredited as support vessels by IRG.

Once in George Town, on March 30, the crew began offloading the damaged vessel’s cargo onto the reserve boats: a ketch “Good Run” and a catamaran “Rat Catcher”.

Cargo consisted of recycled sails from www.sailsforsustenance.org to be distributed to Haitian subsistence fishermen, tools, food and other supplies bound for various charity and orphanage partners that IRG has been working with for years, according to an IRG statement.

Capt Thackeray told The Tribune that it was at this point, that the team caught the attention of border officials.

In a Facebook post on April 1, he wrote: “I am under arrest by Bahamas customs and immigration because we have been transferring cargo bound for Haiti to IRG Reserve boats. Our affiliate boats are ok but the officials here will not listen to anything or any evidence that we are a disaster relief organisation until Monday.”

Capt Thackeray added: “If anyone has any contact with NEMA Bahamas, a friendly official giving us the okay because our cargo is for Hurricane Matthew relief in Haiti would go a long way. In the meantime I may be incommunicado until Monday.”

IRG’s executive director was charged in Magistrate’s Court on Monday, but would remain in the George Town jailhouse until Tuesday because he was unable to pay before the court closed. Capt Thackeray insists that officials had closed the court 15 minutes earlier than the stated deadline.

“The judge was not the slightest bit interested in the fact that IRG is an accredited NGO running missions that in the past have benefited The Bahamas,” said Capt Thackeray in an IRG press release circulated to international partners.

“I requested in writing the court case number, summary judgment and other details of the case, including the judge’s name and so far have been refused, being told at the court that they don’t know if they can give me this information. All I have to show for this entire incident is a receipt for $3,000,” he said.

The press release noted that The Bahamas’ Hurricane Matthew exigency order was still in effect through its emergency management organization NEMA, pointing out it was customary for aid NGOs to be extended aid and latitude to operate in such times across The Bahamas and Caribbean.

Even though he paid his fine, Capt Thackeray said the drama did not end there, as the Department of Immigration in Exuma demanded that he sail out immediately or face deportation on May 7.

He said: “My crew have all flown home so I am the only person on board a traditional gaffer sailing vessel with disabled engine, being told to sail out into adverse conditions that would quickly put the boat onto the rocks. Naturally I refused, to be told that I am being deported and will not be allowed back into the country to retrieve my vessel, which few people know how to sail or maintain.”

“This was an outrageous molesting of a disaster relief and humanitarian aid charity,” said Captain Thackeray.

The Tribune tried to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration over the incident, but did not get a response up to press time.

“I am sailing out of the stinking crap-hole that George Town, Bahamas has become,” wrote Capt Thackeray in a post on Facebook yesterday, “with IRG Reserve S/V Good Run under command of the excellent Captain Thiago bound for Haiti where I will do some volunteering and help coordinate supplies that IRG has transported in response to Hurricane Matthew.”

He continued: “My efforts to correct the despicable money-grabbing actions of the immigration authority here will stall for about a week, but rest assured I will not stop until this story gets out and government officials get an earful until they reverse this injustice to an accredited NGO performing disaster relief operations.”