Minister of Immigration and Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said yesterday that he does not dispute the Department of Statistics' latest census data on the number of Haitians living in The Bahamas, adding that the department's census reports are conducted in compliance with international standards. According to the data, of the 351,461 people residing in The Bahamas when the 2010 census was conducted, 39,144 are Haitians - 21,143 males and 18,001 females - which is more than 60 percent of the total number of foreigners residing in the country. "I wouldn't second guess the Department of Statistics," Mitchell told The Nassau Guardian yesterday.
"I believe their methodology is professional. It is done in accordance with international standards and I expect that they have done their job properly, which is to take a snapshot of the number of people they can count during the period in which the count took place." Former Immigration Minister Branville McCartney said if the number represents both legal and illegal Haitians, then he doubts that there are only 39,144 Haitians living here. He added that it is very difficult to assess who is living here illegally. "I can not see how they can assess that figure when in fact they can't say how many people are in these illegal shantytowns for instance," McCartney said recently.
Asked if statistics department workers visited known shantytowns during the information-gathering process for the census, Mitchell said he understands that everyone is counted and there is no distinction made as to where people live or their status. "There is a methodology which is internationally accepted by the people that do statistics, and I am certain that (the census) done is accordance with those provisions." The report further notes that there are 290,725 Bahamians living across the country, which means that just over 60,000 people in the country are foreigners. It is unclear whether the Haitian nationals are living in The Bahamas legally or illegally.
An official from the Department of Statistics said the question of status was not asked. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), between 20,000 and 50,000 undocumented Haitians are living in The Bahamas. The number of Haitians living in the country has grown substantially in the years since the last census was conducted. According to statistics from the 2000 census, 21,426 Haitians - 12,333 males and 9,093 females - were living here at that time. The 2005 IOM report on Haitian Migrants in The Bahamas noted that because of the The Bahamas' proximity to Haiti, the United States, Jamaica, Cuba and other Caribbean countries it is used as a transit point by migrants and asylum seekers en route to the United States.
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