Two Haitian barbers who were slapped by immigration officers conducting checks on their barbershop on Saturday morning said the attack was not provoked and are grateful the assault was captured on camera.

Gary Philius, 33 and Wilfort Senatus, 38, both work permit holders, said they are now traumatized by what took place.

"In the night, I can't sleep because I'm thinking too much," said Philius during an interview with The Nassau Guardian at Adam's Barber Shop on Bacardi Road, where the incident took place.

They said they reported the matter to the police.

"Yeah, we make [the report] because the situation, the way I'm feeling, I can't take it like that," he said.

"It was a bad day for me and him. Because the way this [officer] slap me, we went to the hospital to check it out.

"I don't feel very well. When I talking to you, my head hurts."

In the video, two people, dressed in green fatigues with what appears to be the word immigration written on their clothing in white text, are inside a business confronting Philius and Senatus. Both men in green slap the barbers multiple times.

The Haitian men then walked out of the store with one of the alleged immigration officers walking behind them.

The officer then draws his hand back into the air and slaps one of the men on the side of the head. The man was hit so hard, he was knocked to the ground.

Philius said around 11 a.m. on Saturday, immigration officers came to their shop on Bacardi Road and asked for proof of their legal status, which they provided.

The men said the officers left but returned 15 minutes later, and that's when the officers slapped them for "no reason".

"We stand outside and I see the immigration officers coming," Philius said.

"They ask me and the next boy for the work permit, and I show him the work permit. He say, 'OK, everything good.' After 15 minutes, they come back. They ain't talk to me and the next boy. They come and slap me and my boy."

The men said they were taken to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre and were released 30 minutes later.

A video of the assault has since gone viral on social media. The Department of Immigration said it is investigating the matter.

Through a translator, Senatus said the officers were wrong for how they conducted things.

"I really don't like what happened because I'm working at a business where we pay insurance and everything," Senatus said.

"If immigration came here to do their job, to check our documents, if we don't have the proper documents, they can arrest us and carry us. But they don't have a right to put their hand on us, slap us up and go overboard. They went overboard."

Philius and Senatus said they don't plan to open the shop this week. During the interview, Philius complained about his head, saying he needed to be seen again by a doctor.

"If you coming to do your job, you have to do your job right," said Philius, who added that he has lived in The Bahamas for five years.

"Do the right thing, because if you put something in your face to hide your face like that, then beating us like that, I think it's not good. Then, one of the officers closed the door, so they have to continue to beat us.

"The camera there, I can say thanks for that. It's not the first time immigration start beating somebody. If they beat us like that, they could make any action outside."

The post Haitian barbers slapped by men who appear to be immigration officers say attack unprovoked appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Haitian barbers slapped by men who appear to be immigration officers say attack unprovoked appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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