By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said the consular division of his ministry helped the Department of Immigration repatriate 1,053 foreigners to their homelands between July 2020 and May 2021.

He was speaking during his contribution to the budget debate yesterday. He said 713 of the repatriated people were Haitian nationals and 340 were people from other countries.

“The division was also instrumental in assisting overseas missions with deportation and the return of 62 Bahamians from the US to The Bahamas during the period of July 2020 to May 2021,” he said.

Mr Henfield said the division continues to help Bahamians in distress in foreign countries. In particular, 539 Bahamians who were distressed and/or displaced abroad were helped during the relevant period.

“The consular division has also rendered assistance to 16 foreign nations in distress in The Bahamas and served as an intermediary between relevant agencies, including honorary consuls and embassies,” he said.

Turning to other parts of his portfolio, Mr Henfield said with its expanded capacity, the Passport Office enrolled 43,366 people from July 1, 2020 to May 2021 and generated $1,183,045.

Of the enrolled, “adult enrolment totalled 27,285, minor enrolment totalled 7,982 and 8,099 online enrolment,” he said.

The government expanded the passport online portal in December 2020 to let applicants ages 15-17 renew their passports. The digital portal was also incorporated into the government’s platform, allowing “the application and collection of passports and other government issued documents from a central location,” according to Mr Henfield.

The government has since opened Passport Offices on Exuma, Inagua, Long Island and Eleuthera. Two more Passport Offices will be opened in the coming weeks in Bimini and North Andros.

Mr Henfield said the consular division of his ministry also generated $837,540 during the budget year by legalising 4,967 documents.

“For this same period, the division issued 1,037 visas for a revenue of $173,240,” he said.