By MALCOLM STRACHAN

THE latest warning over travel to Haiti should not be needed for anyone who has given even half a glance at the state of that nation – even more curious is that what seems to have prompted it is an incident involving a massive drug bust that left three Bahamians dead.

If indeed the three who were killed were part of a drug operation, there will be little sympathy for them. If you choose to put your head in a lion’s mouth, you can’t be surprised if one day it bites you.

Police said that the boat on which the alleged traffickers were killed was carrying a ton of cocaine when it was intercepted near Tortue Island off the north coast.

The Associated Press reported that the suspects were ordered to raise their hands, but raised their guns instead. An exchange of gunfire later and two were shot and floating in the ocean, a third died on shore, while the fourth was injured and arrested – although The Tribune reported he later died after reaching a clinic on shore. Three of the dead were Bahamian and one was Jamaican.

It is hard to say if this is an accurate description of what happened, however. There seems to be a lot of confusion, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seemed to be trying its best to work its way through that confusion.

Prior to the travel alert, it issued a statement saying it was still awaiting the “formal notification from the Haitian Government as to what transpired on Sunday 13 July 2025”.

It added: “We will not issue a formal statement until the Ministry has been provided with an official account of what transpired by Haitian authorities. We are in touch with the authorities and are pressing them to respond.”

As I write this, that formal statement has not yet emerged.

It should not come as a surprise that there is confusion over what is happening in Haiti. Confusion has been the country’s modus operandi for months now, with Haiti continuing to be ripped apart by gangs and with no meaningful sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

Worse perhaps, there remains in the country a persistent distrust of any kind of outside intervention.

That may not be surprising given the blame that lies at the feet of UN peacekeepers for introducing cholera to Haiti after they were stationed there in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. About 10,000 deaths are attributable to that outbreak.

Recently, the Colombian President, Gustavo Preto, arrived in Haiti as part of a show of support – while the opening of a Colombian embassy was also announced.

The Colombian administration has offered to train Haitian officers – but the offer is undermined by the fact that 17 former Colombian soldiers continue to be interrogated in Haiti for their alleged involvement in the 2021 murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

A promised press conference with Preto failed to happen, showing a lack of confidence in the safety of holding such an event, while one man gathered outside the new embassy said pointedly to reporters: “We had a president. They killed him.”

The drug seizure in the incident involving Bahamians is a remarkable one for the Haitian police in recent times.

The force is underfunded and overrun. A multinational force led by Kenyan officers, and of which The Bahamas is a contributory member, has done little to dent the gang violence that continues to sweep across the nation.

A UN report recently said that between October and the end of June, 4,864 people had been killed, while hundreds of others had been kidnapped, raped and trafficked.

More than 1.3 million people have also been displaced in recent years.

Where have those 1.3 million gone? Well, some have been displaced internally. Some have gone to the US, where they are among some of the many Haitians facing a clampdown on migration by the administration of President Donald Trump.

And plenty have come here too.

Why do they come here? Because while we might complain about Haitians in our nation, we are the ones who employ them.

Last week, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis was right when he said the problem with enforcing immigration laws is not our borders, it is greed and corruption among ourselves.

He said: “They put a few dollars in the application. They know exactly where to go, who to see. Those are the problems. Until we deal with the problems, nothing will happen. We are the problem.”

There is plenty of reason to criticise Dr Minnis for not fixing the problem when he was in charge – but he is right.

Look at the situation and you will see that Haiti is not likely to change for the better any time soon. The gangs are in control and people who have the chance to get out will take it.

Here in The Bahamas, we have a need for a workforce but an unwillingness to acknowledge that need. Too many pay people for a job they may not have a permit for, and fail to ask whether the person is living here legally or holed up in a shanty town somewhere.

A recent report said there are shanty properties over near Hope Town. How do you fail to notice shanty buildings popping up on Elbow Cay? It’s a small area with a high amount of traffic. Locals will have seen faces that have been there long term.

Too often we turn a blind eye to such things. We cannot fail to regulate and enforce and then act outraged when the things we could have stopped continue on regardless.

Haiti is a political mess, and will continue to be so – and the exodus of its people will continue. Who can blame them? They face the risk of being raped and murdered in their homes. Wouldn’t you want to protect your family and get them away from that?

How we deal with that is up to us. We can acknowledge it, accommodate it, or toughen up against it. What we cannot do is ignore it, all so a few Bahamians can tuck some extra dollars in their back pockets. And yet, that seems to be what we continue to do.