The Nassau Guardian
Mitchell defends deportation procedure
Amid criticism that The Bahamas’ deportation process allows trafficking victims and political refugees to fall through the gaps, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell said yesterday the government is engaged in a “careful balancing act”, but it simply cannot afford to detain large numbers of migrants for long periods of time.
Last week, a United Nations (UN) independent expert on human trafficking criticized the government for not having a standard national policy for the identification of trafficking victims, and political refugees.
United Nations Rapporteur Joy Ngozi Ezeilo encouraged the government to implement a national action plan to combat human trafficking given the high rate of migration to The Bahamas.
The United Nations made the same criticisms earlier this year.
However, Mitchell said given the country’s limited resources, including the limitations of the Carmichael Road Detention Centre, holding onto hundreds of migrants is “simply untenable”.
“The humane thing to do given the circumstances is a quick turnaround of any migrant who comes here, who does not belong here,” he said at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Once the initial procedures indicate that there are not issues relating to trafficking or to political asylum they should return home as quickly as possible.”
Up to yesterday, there were 323 people detained in the detention center.
Two-hundred and twenty-one of those detainees are Haitian nationals, while the others are Cubans and Dominicans, Mitchell said.
He said that mix of people in such large numbers is “unsustainable” over the long term and The Bahamas must continue its quick turnaround procedure.
“They simply need to go home because you just can’t sustain that number of people in that facility over the longer term,” he said.
“It is a delicate balancing act and I think all of our partners including the UN need to understand the nature of that balancing act and appreciate the work that we are doing in those areas.”
Mitchell admitted that the government will not always get it right, but said the country is committed to fighting human trafficking, and other transnational crimes, including illegal migration.
He added that the relevant government agencies, particularly the Department of Immigration, could do much more on those matter if the resources were available.
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