By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Keith Bell yesterday defended government’s efforts to address the illegal immigration issue in the country, saying the number of people deported so far for the year alone is proof that officials are taking the matter seriously.

According to Mr Bell, there have been more than 2,400 foreign nationals repatriated so far for the year, the majority of whom are from Haiti.

Mr Bell was responding to calls from the Free National Movement for the government to take definite action to address the “immigration crisis.”

Speaking to reporters, the minister advised the opposition to be careful of making “reckless” statements and also clarified recent comments he made to a local daily about the matter.

“Well, let me say that I saw the headlines this (Tuesday) morning and I think it was taken out of context in the sense that I do not deny that we have an immigration problem. At this stage, I don’t think that there is a crisis. We have always had an immigration problem in this country, but at this stage, I would submit that it isn’t necessarily a crisis,” he said ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

“A crisis is when something is intense. It cannot be dealt with. There are no resources to deal with it and just to give you an illustration with what I am saying, last year when we took office, last September we would’ve had an influx of just over 1,000 immigrants into our country. That was a crisis and this PLP administration responded to that crisis.

“We deployed our resources. Immigration defends and the police and we were able to deal with that crisis effectively. We ensured due process and we ensured that all of those persons who came here last year in that crisis were repatriated to their home countries.”

Noting the arrival of irregular migrants to The Bahamas as a legacy problem, Mr Bell said “the real question is what are we doing” to address it.

He added: “Since taking office, I would submit to the Bahamian people that this ‘Brave’ Davis administration has been doing a whole lot.

“And if you were to really look at it, the fact of the matter is that over the last two or three months, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force along with our US counterparts have been intercepting every irregular migrant vessel that is coming into our borders, which is very significant.

“And so, I will tell the Bahamian public that the proof is not in the words, but rather in the pudding and let me indicate to that those we’re not only dealing with the immigrants who are irregular migrants who are coming here by boat, we’re also dealing with those who are actually here in our country, and our repatriation numbers speak to this.”

He also presented the media with a breakdown of monthly repatriations to date, with data showing that most of those deportations took place in March.

According to documents seen by this newspaper, January and February saw 335 and 288 repatriations respectively.

In March, there were 641 migrants sent back home, while 420 foreign nationals were deported in April, 332 in May and 120 in June.

July saw another 106 migrants repatriated whereas in August, 201 people were returned to their home country.

“So far, for the year, this year alone, we have repatriated in excess of 1,800 irregular migrants back to Haiti which is very significant,” Mr Bell added.

“We have repatriated, and I’ll give you the precise numbers. We’ve repatriated a total of 2,443 irregular migrants to Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and, of course, to Cuba and other countries and so it isn’t that we are not continuing to take a very aggressive approach when it comes to immigration.

“First of all, we’re being humane, we are ensuring due process, and we’re ensuring that those who are coming to our country through illegal means, that they are arrested, they receive due process, they are treated with the highest degree of humanity, and that they are repatriated immediately.

“I sign a number of deportation orders every week,” he continued.

Calls by the opposition were made following the recent burial of nine unidentified women who died in a human smuggling operation in July.

While expressing sadness over the incident, FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright said it was clear that illegal Haitian migration continues to escalate due to worsening conditions in Haitian and accused the Davis administration for not having a clear plan.

“Bahamians I speak to every day are rightly concerned about the situation,” he said. “We often hear concerns about illegal Haitian migration dismissed as xenophobia or hatred.

“But I am hearing a growing chorus of fear about Bahamians being left to fend for themselves as far as economic opportunities and housing in their own country.”

Mr Cartwright said while he understands there is no easy or immediate solution to the problem, “we must acknowledge it is a problem.”

“What we are saying is that the government must get more serious about enforcing our immigration laws,” he added.

“That a government MP can pinpoint an entire community of illegal migrants that the government has left undisturbed is scandalous. That the Department of Immigration has not yet been compelled to act is baffling.”