NASSAU, Bahamas — With more than 250 Bahamians stuck in Florida alone, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States Sidney Collie said on Thursday, April 23, he plans to recommend that the government make “an exception” and allow some Bahamians to return home despite the closure of The Bahamas’ border, the Nassau Guardian reported on April 24.
“I’m expecting a report from the consul general in Miami, the consul general in Atlanta, the consul general in D.C. and the consul general in New York today because I need to have the total list for an intervention I intend to make with the government,” Collie told The Nassau Guardian.
He said he could not provide the exact number of Bahamians stuck in the United States; however, he noted that “it’s quite a large number,” adding that the number for Bahamian students is “quite substantial.”
For this reason, Collie said he has reached out to not only the consul generals but also to honorary consuls throughout the United States “to start the planning for how we are going to either assist them (Bahamians) or to get them back home.”
“That right there is a part of our recommendations,” he said. “What we are looking at is the cost to the government to have to house and feed a large number of students throughout the United States; paying for hotels and motels and other accommodation versus the cost of making an exception with the border and getting them back home. That would be the driving motive behind making that recommendation. So, we have a number of recommendations we want to make, but I will leave that until my list of recommendations from consul generals [is] complete.” See the complete story in the Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/24/collie-wants-bahamians-to-return-home/
