New Category : Disputes

Ministry warning after Lincoln Bain video

Mon, Jan 23rd 2023, 04:28 PM

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised the public that no citizen or non-Bahamian should allow themselves to be questioned and detained by someone unless that person is a law enforcement officer.

The ministry released a statement after a video of political hopeful Lincoln Bain was circulating showing him and others questioning a Haitian man about his status in the country and looking over his documents.

“There is a video circulating of a fringe activist group interfering with the free movement of a member of the public,” the ministry said. “The grouping has no lawful authority to interfere with members of the public.

“For public information, no citizen of this country or non-national should stop or surrender or allow themselves to be questioned or detained by any person, unless the person so doing has identified him or herself as a duly authorised law enforcement officer.

“The Bahamas remains a country governed by the rule of law and the rights of all must be respected.”

The ministry advised people who may have been subjected to questions from this group to make a report at the nearest police station, the local embassy or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry added it was circulating this advisory to all foreign embassies in The Bahamas.

PM "swift intervention" reverses decision to lay off 20 Bahamian workers at Freeport Container Port

Thu, Jan 5th 2023, 08:38 PM

THE decision to lay off 20 Bahamian workers at the Freeport Container Port has been reversed following the "swift intervention" of Prime Minister Philip "Brave" Davis, according to an official statement by the Ministry for Grand Bahama.

After being informed of recent developments at the container port, Mr Davis personally intervened in the matter and reached out to the international and local partners of the company to get those laid off back to work.

At a press conference in Freeport earlier on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party, indicated that the prime minister and the Progressive Liberal Party were very disappointed and shocked by the layoffs.

FCP, one of the largest employers on Grand Bahama, had advised the government by letter dated December 28, 2022, of its most recent termination of 20 employees from FCP effective from December 31, 2022.

Mr Mitchell said the “prime minister’s view was that the matters should be reversed and that it should not have happened, particularly since he reached out a hand to the company and thought that we were partners in Grand Bahama, and its forward development.”

He added: “This event was simply shocking in the face of it.”

 In an earlier statement by the Ministry for Grand Bahama, Minister Ginger Moxey had also indicated her disappointment over the decision to terminate Bahamians “in the midst of ongoing efforts by Grand Bahama residents to recover and rebuild their lives from destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian, and the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The government of The Bahamas will be in communication with FCP on this and other matters as we hope to forge ahead to recover and rebuild GB for the benefit of our people,” Ms Moxey said.

Shortly after 2pm, the ministry issued another statement advising: “Following the swift intervention of the prime minister, the decision to lay off 20 workers at the Freeport Container Port has been reversed.”

Describing the decision to lay off the workers as “unconscionable,” Minister Mitchell noted that the container port has been very profitable in Grand Bahama, and “should not be making these moves.”

“As you know I wear several roles, one of which is the chairman of the PLP and it is in that capacity I wish to speak – because, quite frankly, all of us were really shocked to hear of these developments.

“This city just seemed to be catching a break and on an upward trajectory and for these developments to happen, just seems shocking to me.

“The fact is that this community needs to grow and develop, and it needs all its commercial entities, private and public, to pull together for the success and upward movement of this community. And it was really disappointing to hear of these developments.”

He noted that there has been a fair number of complaints about the management of FCP, and the way Bahamians are treated.

“This as you know is a serial problem for our country,” he said. “Every time there is investment – investment is good – people make generous profits in this country, but they seem to dislike Bahamians. You cannot figure out why that is.

“What has happened, we understand, is the number of work permits has actually increased, not decreased since they had Bahamian management running the company,” Mr Mitchell said.

“So, we have to find out why that is. And what you do not want to do, of course, is to be xenophobic because there may be reasons why you have to bring in expatriate labour. But expatriate labour should match the benefits which are obtained to Bahamians, not at the expense of Bahamians. But there have been many complaints which come to us about management of the company.”

He explained that while statute law can do some things, the main issue is whether Bahamians are willing to stand up for themselves.

“I say often the government is expected to do various things and that is correct. We have been elected to do that, but the government is only as strong as the people standing behind you.”

Mr Mitchell said that the question was whether FCP had followed the law. He noted that in their letter which they wrote to the government, they are relying on an amendment to the Employment Act.

This, he explained, sets out certain rules for when employers want to make people redundant.

“One of (the rules) is that you are to notify the minister (of labour) in writing 14 days in advance of any proposed redundancy, laying out the numbers, how many people you intend to layoff, the names, and the reason for redundancy,” he stated.

He further stated that there is also provision in the Act that if an employer does not follow those rules, particularly as it relates to 20 people or more, the law calls for an additional 30 days of pay to be given to an employee.

“One of the reasons why I spent time talking to the PM, the minister for GB and the minister of labour on the call was to find out whether or not we are certain the container port followed the law in this matter.

“So, in a sense, they have on the face of it would appear they followed the law in giving notice to the minister directly, but if you go forensically through the provisions of the Act, it appears to me there are some gaps which they have not followed.

“This to me is more than law, it has to do with equity and fairness. A company that has done well in this country and at this point should not be making these moves - that is the way I see it.”

Since the pandemic, he said, shipping companies have made a fortune.

“You cannot tell me that because you have had some reverses in recent times, that that makes up for all the profits made during the time of the pandemic. It just comes off as unconscionable and contrary to all the best efforts that everyone is seeking to make to try and have this community succeed,” he said.

PM disappointed over US trafficking report

Mon, Jul 25th 2022, 12:00 PM

PRIME Minister Phillip "Brave" Davis yesterday expressed disappointment in observations made in a recent US Trafficking in Persons Report concerning his government's recruitment of Cuban nurses.

The newly released 2022 State Department Report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) had raised concerns about the possibility of some 50 Cuban medical professionals who were hired by the government being forced to work by the Cuban government.

The workers entered the system back in January at a critical time during the pandemic when 116 Bahamian nurses were inactive due to COVID-19 exposure.

The report noted that while The Bahamas maintained its Tier 1 Status, there could be stronger efforts to protect potential victims of trafficking

The report said: “In January 2022, the government signed an official agreement with the Cuban government to temporarily host 50 nurses to provide medical care during the pandemic. Cuban medical professionals may have been forced to work by the Cuban government. The high unemployment rate — reported to have exceeded 40 percent — resulting from the pandemic may have increased vulnerabilities for potential victims.”

The report also noted that “the government did not report screening Cuban medical workers for trafficking indicators” and recommended increasef efforts to investigate, prosecute and convict traffickers, including officials complicit in sex or labour trafficking, and to impose sufficient sentences.

Other suggestions included: “Improve efforts to identify victims and refer them to services, particularly among vulnerable groups, including underserved stateless persons, migrants and asylum-seekers from Haiti and Venezuela, LGBTQI+ individuals, and Cuban nationals working on government-sponsored programmes.”

Responding to the report at a press conference yesterday, Mr Davis insisted that all protocols were followed to recruit nurses from Cuba, adding that no one was “coerced” to work in the country.

“In so far as that report is concerned… it’s laughable to me because they’re speaking about the Cuban nurses that we recruited and I’ve said to the United Sates and I said on behalf of the CARICOM region that our nurses are being lured away from us after we would’ve educated and trained them,” he said.

“They’re being lured away from us by the United States and Canada because their economies are able to pay them much more than what we could afford so a nurse might be making $30,000 a year and they’re being offered up to $100,000 a year or $80,000 a year to go and work in the United States.”

The Prime Minister continued: “And in the midst of our pandemic, we have seen an exodus of nurses to the United States so we ask help us and send us some nurses at least to tide us through this pandemic but they haven’t and so we went where we could find nurses and they are working at their own free will.

“They were recruited properly and they’re being paid properly and they could decide to go home whenever they wish so there’s no coercion in respect to these nurses so I was really disappointed that an observation could’ve been made or would’ve been made that the Cuban nurses here may be near some cloud of trafficking to them.”

In the report, experts also lamented the government’s lack of progress to initiate any new prosecutions, identifying fewer victims and not having a comprehensive implementation of the country’s victim identification protocol, especially among at risk groups, including Haitian migrants.

The lack of judges and prosecutors in the country contributed to significant backlogs in all cases, the 2022 report noted.

Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe told reporters on Friday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been issues in tracking all crime across the board.

“Nowhere in the world has there been prosecutions over the last two years, including the US. The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected that.

“So, while we are mindful of the observation. I am quite sure that the US state department of government will be mindful that we’re all confronted with what they are confronted with and that is delays in the trail process, and everything from murder, which is the most serious matter on our calendar, right down to matters of trafficking in persons and sexual offences.

“We are trying to get through the system as well,” Mr Munroe underscored.

Mr Munroe added that they accept all criticism and are giving their best efforts to address the backlog in the criminal system.

He noted that he has spoken to the incoming Chief Justice about the system’s challenges and has made recommendations to address the issue.

US report exposes trafficking issues

Wed, Jul 20th 2022, 09:26 AM

THE latest US Trafficking in Persons Report has noted experts' concerns about excessive pre-trial detention due to criminal justice system delays, preventing even the most serious criminal cases from advancing in a timely manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lack of judges and prosecutors in the country contributed to significant backlogs in all cases, the 2022 report noted, in addition to courts easily granting bail - due in part to prison overcrowding - even to persons accused of violent crimes, and law enforcement not having the resources to fully uphold the law were among the issues with the judicial system.

Immigration officials may have also solicited Haitian migrants for bribes to prevent detention, the report went on to say.

It is also possible that some of a group of 50 Cuban medical professionals who were sourced to assist in the public healthcare system during the pandemic may have been forced to work by the Cuban government, the report said.

The workers entered the system back in January at a time when 116 Bahamian nurses were inactive due to COVID-19 exposure.

According to the 2022 State Department Report on Trafficking In Persons (TIP), The Bahamas maintained Tier 1 Status.

This despite the government failing to initiate any new prosecutions, identifying fewer victims and not having a comprehensive implementation of the country’s victim identification protocol, especially among at risk groups, including Haitian migrants.

“The government of The Bahamas fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” according to yesterday’s report. “The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore The Bahamas remained on Tier 1.

“These efforts included convicting a trafficker, providing support for victims repatriated abroad, making efforts to provide compensation to a victim, increasing funding for victim services, and coordinating with governments in the region on a virtual forum to share challenges and best practices on prosecuting trafficking and improving inter-agency collaboration."

The report also said there was a slight decrease in law enforcement efforts.

“The government initiated investigation of one sex trafficking case involving two suspects, compared with 13 cases (11 for sex trafficking and two for labour trafficking) in 2020 and 16 investigations in 2019. The government did not initiate any new prosecutions, compared with two prosecutions initiated in both 2020 and 2019.

“The government continued prosecution of one alleged sex trafficker from a previous reporting period and reported another seven suspected traffickers awaited the start of their trials. The government convicted one Bahamian female trafficker in December 2021 for the sex trafficking of two girl victims under the TIP Act and other laws, the same number as in 2020 and compared with no convictions in 2019.

“The Chief Magistrate sentenced the trafficker to penalties consistent with a plea agreement, including nine months and three days in prison for each of 12 counts, with concurrent sentences; three years of probation and a $5,000 fine; and 12 months of counseling; and it required the trafficker to give evidence in a related trafficker prosecution. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking crimes.”

Meanwhile the lengthy report zeroed in on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected trials.

“Pandemic-related lockdowns in 2020 exacerbated criminal trial delays, but the judiciary continued modernization efforts to address the backlog, including the digitization of records. While the government did not assign any courts specifically to handle trafficking cases, prosecutors brought all trafficking cases before the Magistrate’s and Supreme Courts.

“Experts reported concerns about excessive pretrial detention due to criminal justice system delays, preventing even the most serious criminal cases from advancing in a timely manner. Observers noted the lack of judges and prosecutors in the country contributed to significant backlogs in all cases; courts easily granted bail (due in part to prison overcrowding), even to defendants accused of violent crimes, and law enforcement did not have the resources to fully uphold the law.

“Immigration officials may have solicited Haitian migrants for bribes to prevent detention. The government provided training to defence officials and law enforcement on case reporting, victim and perpetrator profiles, methods, victim identification and elements of trafficking. Due to the pandemic, the government conducted most anti-trafficking training virtually. The anti-trafficking committee participated in numerous international meetings on trafficking, both in person and virtually, which resulted in new networks for collaboration and potential future MOUs.”

While there was a slight increase in efforts to protect victims of trafficking, it was asserted that “observers reported authorities did not use formal protocols to screen all migrants and continued to abuse migrants — particularly those of Haitian descent. Authorities reported screening individuals for trafficking indicators during routine checks of nightclubs. The government did not report screening Cuban medical workers for trafficking indicators.”

It again echoed a concern that unaccompanied migrant children, individuals lured for employment, those involved in commercial sex and exotic dancing, irregular migrants, stateless persons, LGBTQI+ individuals (particularly from poor communities), and migrants displaced by Hurricane Dorian have been trafficking victims or are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.

“In particular, irregular migrants living in informal settlements on the Hurricane Dorian-ravaged islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, as well as those who fled to New Providence after the storm, exist in what observers call ‘dark spaces,’ which deter reporting abuse.

"In January 2022, the government signed an official agreement with the Cuban government to temporarily host 50 nurses to provide medical care during the pandemic. Cuban medical professionals may have been forced to work by the Cuban government. The high unemployment rate — reported to have exceeded 40 percent — resulting from the pandemic may have increased vulnerabilities for potential victims.”

The report recommended increase efforts to investigate, prosecute and convict traffickers, including officials complicit in sex or labour trafficking, and to impose sufficient sentences.

Other suggestions included: “Improve efforts to identify victims and refer them to services, particularly among vulnerable groups, including underserved stateless persons, migrants and asylum-seekers from Haiti and Venezuela, LGBTQI+ individuals, and Cuban nationals working on government-sponsored programmes.

“Reduce delays in court proceedings.

“Train labour inspectors on trafficking, victim identification and referral to services. Raise awareness of trafficking risks among vulnerable groups in partnership with NGOs and provide migrants with information on trafficking and workers’ rights.

“Remove a requirement for migrants switching jobs to obtain a letter of release from their employer; take steps to eliminate recruitment fees charged to workers by labour recruiters and ban employee-paid recruitment fees; provide a dedicated shelter for trafficking victims; improve regular data collection and record keeping, including prosecution statistics, provide victims an alternative to speaking with law enforcement; provide vulnerable individuals with trauma-informed assistance and interpretation in their language prior to, during, and after screening for trafficking, including through the hotline and develop, execute, and publish a robust monitoring and evaluation framework for anti-trafficking policies and efforts.”