The Former Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Haiti in the Bahamas Dorval Darlier and New Chargé d'Affaires a.i met this week with Carl Bethel, the Attorney General of the Bahamas to ask him to stop imprisoning Haitian citizens convicted of offenses minor offenses related to the violation of the law on immigration.

Earlier this month, Judge Carolyn Vogt Evans said measures were being prepared for illegal immigrants after noting that the fines had not had a deterrent effect. The magistrate sentenced several undocumented people to prison for offenses against immigration law.

Last Saturday, 17 Haitians in an irregular migratory situation, were repatriated to Haiti https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28987-haiti-flash-6-weeks-after-dorian-bahamas-resumes-deporting-haitians.html

"I know that the Bahamas is a country of law, but sometimes you have to approach the problem from a humanitarian point of view," said Dorval Darlier, recalling that some compatriots who had not committed serious crimes were still incarcerated including to Nassau Fox Hill Prison for minor offenses... Suggesting that instead of sending Haitians in an irregular migration situation to prison, the Nassau authorities should instead take them to administrative detention centers before their eventual repatriation to Haiti.

Last week, the Bahamas government defended its decision to expel illegal immigrants, mainly Haitian citizens, after Hurricane Dorian, adding that sometimes international organizations try to impose rules on small territories, such as the Bahamas, rules that do not apply in their own country.

Recall that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), based in Geneva, asked the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Minnis to put an end to the deportations https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29019-haiti-un-ohchr-calls-on-bahamas-to-suspend-deportation-to-haiti.html request ignored by the Bahamas...

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29133-haiti-flash-the-bahamas-want-to-demolish-all-the-shantytowns-of-the-archipelago.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29019-haiti-un-ohchr-calls-on-bahamas-to-suspend-deportation-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28987-haiti-flash-6-weeks-after-dorian-bahamas-resumes-deporting-haitians.html

S/ HaitiLibre