By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

IMMIGRATION Minister Alfred Sears said a United Nations group will visit The Bahamas to inspect migrant detention facilities.

“We will engage the United Nations in a very frank and open manner and also use it as an opportunity to redouble our commitment and efforts to improve the infrastructure of our detention facilities,” he said in the House of Assembly yesterday.

He said the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will visit the country on November 27.

“This group from the United Nations will visit our detention centre, the safe houses in The Bahamas and will consult with the civil society, the human rights group, and persons who would have been detained at some time.”

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is an independent body that investigates possible cases of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Mr Sears said his predecessor, Keith Bell, left plans to upgrade the detention centre.

“He had already made a substantial improvement; in fact, a new facility for the medical services within the detention centre. There’s now doctors on rotation,” he said.

“We also will be renovating the safe house for women and children who are in the safe house so that we can maintain the minimum standard, which is required by our international obligation.”

Mr Sears said improvements are also underway for the digital platform within the Ministry of Immigration, following consultations within the last two weeks with immigration officers.

He said he had a recent virtual meeting with Canadian Bank Note, a security technology company. He said an agreement was made “to make certain code changes to the platform to improve efficiency, to make it more user-friendly for the clients of the ministry, and also to make the process much more accountable and transparent.”

Mr Sears revealed that 1,126 irregular migrants were repatriated between July 1 and August 13.

“This number encompasses 746 adult males, 301 adult females, 43 male children and 36 female children,” he said.

“As is customary, the vast majority of persons were from the Republic of Haiti, which was 795 people. What is most interesting, however, is that the next highest number is 147 Ecuadorians.

“Total costs incurred by Bahamian taxpayers to facilitate these repatriations during that period is $211,273.”