The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is on heightened alert for Haitian migrants due to a policy change relating to asylum-seekers in the United States and an increase in unrest in Haiti, according to Commodore Dr. Raymond King.

“We have recognized a noticeable increase,” King said yesterday.

“There are certain pull and push factors. The political, social and economic conditions in Haiti at this moment are push factors. Similar conditions in Cuba represent push factors.

“The pull factors seem to be the United States’ removal of Title 42. That would have prohibited persons from seeking asylum considerations, particularly during the height of the global pandemic, but the Biden administration is about to set aside that rule, I think, on [May 23].

“Hence, Cubans and Haitian migrants are also seeking to be heard in terms of asylum. And so, there has been a noticeable shift in vessels seeking to enter the US, but we have still noticed sporadic attempts to enter The Bahamas, so we remain vigilant.”

Title 42 is a public emergency health order implemented in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that allows US officials to turn migrants seeking asylum away at the border.

It was implemented under the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration.

However, last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the order was no longer needed to protect public health.

Haiti in recent weeks has been experiencing violence between warring gangs outside Port-au-Prince.

The Miami Herald reported on April 28 that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a US Senate Committee that Haiti has “a long path forward” and “the criminality, violence, the lack of basic law and order, is a fundamental problem”.

The newspaper reported that houses east of the capital have been set ablaze, and schools and businesses have been forced to shutter.

The United Nations deputy spokesperson said at the beginning of May that the clashes in Haiti between rival gangs in the capital have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.

Farhan Haq said that according to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, in Haiti, unrest has been growing between gang members in the neighborhoods of the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, Cité Soleil, Bas Delmas and Martissant.

“According to our humanitarian colleagues, violence in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets has displaced more than 1,200 people … at least 26 civilians have been killed and 22 injured, although these figures are probably higher,” he said.

According to news reports, there has been an increase in kidnappings of foreigners and others by criminal gangs, demanding large ransoms.

King said yesterday the large majority of migrants leaving Haiti and Cuba are not bound for The Bahamas.

“I wouldn’t say that there is a surge in migrants seeking to enter The Bahamas, even though we had two attempts recently,” he said.

“Over the last three-plus months, over 98 percent of the traffic has been towards the US.

“But there has been a significant increase. Just from April 29 to April 30, the US Coast Guard turned around and escorted six migrant vessels off the northern coast of Haiti.

“Three of those vessels were large freighter-type vessels like our mail boats, which can carry in excess of some 300 persons.”

King estimated that between January and March, more than 1,800 Haitians and over 200 Cubans were turned around.

“That is the environment that we are in now,” he said.

“This year, we have seen the push and pull factors. We have seen that steady increase.

“Every three days … we get some intel of some migrant vessel leaving Haiti. And almost on a daily basis, we get intelligence about Cuban migrants or refugees who left Cuba. And so, there is a steady flow.”

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