By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Keith Bell said there is a need for a “multi-purpose facility” to be constructed on Inagua following the detainment of hundreds of Haitian nationals on the island.

The country is experiencing an influx of migrants from Haiti due to increasing social and political turmoil there.

Since Wednesday, more than 900 Haitians have been apprehended by local officials.

Some 500 of those migrants are currently being detained on Inagua in what officials say could lead to a “humanitarian crisis” if the situation there is not quickly addressed.

Asked how officials plan to ramp up protection of the country’s borders in view of the mass influx, Mr Bell said additional assets are being deployed at sea to crack down on illegal migration.

“The reality is, as you would recall in our last administration between 2012 and 2017, we would have invested in the Sandy Bottom project,” he said at yesterday’s press conference. “High on our agenda is protecting our borders and that remains very high on our agenda. We would’ve purchased a number of crafts…and we would’ve purchased a number of different fleets, ocean faring – those for coastal patrols and those for shallow waters.

“We have those deployed already. Minister (of National Security) Wayne Munroe is in direct communication with the Commodore of the Defence Force to ensure that we block the channel between Inagua and Haiti and that is critical and so we’re deploying our assets in those areas.”

With more migrants expected to arrive in the coming days, Mr Bell also asked for local fishermen to be on the alert and contact the relevant authorities should any vessels be spotted.

He added: “I’m aware of a Dominican vessel that’s been captured as well and I suspect that the Minister of National Security will speak more about that but there has been an incident in respect to that incident so there are some fundamental issues that we are going to have to address authoritatively and decisively, inclusive of constructing a proper facility, a multi-purpose facility in Inagua, that cannot only house the number of immigrants, but to also perhaps act as a hurricane shelter down there in Inagua. The time has come.”

When asked how soon the public could see the new facility be constructed, the Immigration Minister did not give a definite answer.

“Well, it has to be seen as a priority because as it stands now, we have 500 illegal immigrants in Inagua and God forbid if more come. We know that there is a very strong likelihood that more will come. We know for a fact that given these fixed assets, that we’ll always have illegal migration and so we now have to determine whether or not we would like to have a sitting magistrate or sitting courts in Inagua to deal with this... so, we have to make sure that we deal with these matters quickly and it takes a team effort and it takes all of as a Bahamian society to come together on how we’re going to deal with these issues,” he said.