Haitian Ambassador: ?More Haitians Will Continue to Come?

Thu, Aug 7th 2008, 12:00 AM

At a time when immigration authorities grapple to put a clamp on the heavy influx of illegal immigrants entering the country, the sad reality is that many Haitian nationals of that impoverished island will continue to risk their lives on the open seas in search of a better standard of living in the Bahamas, according to Haitian Ambassador to the Bahamas Louis Harold Joseph.

"The number of people coming will continue for some time because of the situation in Haiti," Joseph told the Bahama Journal Tuesday in an exclusive interview. "As I used to say, the people leave the country because they are looking for opportunity. They are looking for jobs and we [Haiti] should be able to provide jobs and to provide opportunities to the people. If not they will continue to come but in the meantime I think that both countries could put their forces together to stop the number of people from coming?"

Last week Monday, more than 300 Haitians managed to evade immigration and Royal Bahamas Defence Force authorities, sailing their overcrowded sloop on shore in the Marshall Road area of South Beach Estates. The Haitians were discovered by a resident when the wooden sloop docked near to his home. This latest apprehension was said to be the largest number to arrive in the capital in the past 10 years, according to immigration officials.

And just days after this latest apprehension, the decomposed bodies of three males were found on the shoreline of Marshall Road and another was found on the shoreline near to Bacardi Road. Immigration officials suspected that these dead persons were passengers on the overcrowded sloop.

Joseph told the Bahama Journal yesterday that Haitians are paying a lot of money to organize trips to the Bahamas and there are also many "push" factors that force Haitians to leave "People have family here and as you realize the Bahamas is doing very well," Joseph said. "The per capita [income] is high, you have jobs here, you have a lot of opportunities here and we have to understand that."

Meanwhile, since last week?s heavy influx of Haitians to the Bahamas, Joseph told the Journal that he has held talks with Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest, who had offered his condolences on behalf of the government. Despite the tension that may exist between Haitian and Bahamians as result of illegal immigration, Joseph described his relationship with the Bahamas government as "cooperative".

"During my time here I always had the cooperation of the ministry and all the ministries involved in immigration: the ministry of immigration, the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of national security," Joseph said. "I always had their support and we are used to working together. What you have to understand is the situation in Haiti is very difficult."

"In 2004 we were about to sign an agreement [with the Bahamas government] but [Jean Bertrand] Aristide left and it was difficult for this to happen. In the meantime we had a new government in Haiti and we have a new government here and that is why it?s taking time and it?s not easy. During the PLP government Haiti and the Bahamas negotiated a framework agreement to deal with illegal immigration and to deal with the bi-lateral relations between Haiti and the Bahamas.

The Haitian Ambassador said many of the Haitian nationals who arrive in the Bahamas would like to find a job and eventually receive citizenship to stay. "The most important thing for them once they are here, even though they arrive illegally, is to have no repatriation," he said.

Joseph said it is hope that Haiti?s new president, Rene Preval, would provide jobs for Haitian nationals. He did state, however, that such a move would not materialize overnight. "?In the meantime there are things we can do to stop the flow of the people coming because it is sad for us at the Embassy to see so many people dying at sea like this and whatever we could do to help to stop the number of people coming, we will be pleased to cooperate but this is something the Bahamas nor Haiti could do by itself. We need the cooperation of both countries to do it," Joseph said.

Meanwhile, as the Carmichael Road Detention Centre continues to struggle with overcrowding issues, the final group of the more than 300 Haitian nationals who were apprehended last week in the Marshall Road area still remain at the facility, according to immigration sources. More than 200 of these immigrants were sent back to their homeland last Tuesday aboard two separate Bahamasair flights. An exact date of this final repatriation exercise is still unknown.

By TAMARA McKENZIE

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