NASSAU, Bahamas — Immigration Minister Keith Bell yesterday defended government’s efforts to address the illegal immigration issue in the country, saying the number of people deported so far for the year alone is proof that officials are taking the matter seriously, The Tribune reported on Wednesday, October 5, in an article written by Leandra Rolle.
According to Mr Bell, there have been more than 2,400 foreign nationals repatriated so far for the year, the majority of whom are from Haiti.
Mr Bell was responding to calls from the Free National Movement for the government to take definite action to address the “immigration crisis.”
Speaking to reporters, the minister advised the opposition to be careful of making “reckless” statements and also clarified recent comments he made to a local daily about the matter.
“Well, let me say that I saw the headlines this (Tuesday) morning and I think it was taken out of context in the sense that I do not deny that we have an immigration problem. At this stage, I don’t think that there is a crisis. We have always had an immigration problem in this country, but at this stage, I would submit that it isn’t necessarily a crisis,” he said ahead of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
“A crisis is when something is intense. It cannot be dealt with. There are no resources to deal with it and just to give you an illustration with what I am saying, last year when we took office, last September we would’ve had an influx of just over 1,000 immigrants into our country. That was a crisis and this PLP administration responded to that crisis.
“We deployed our resources. Immigration defends and the police and we were able to deal with that crisis effectively. We ensured due process and we ensured that all of those persons who came here last year in that crisis were repatriated to their home countries.”
Noting the arrival of irregular migrants to The Bahamas as a legacy problem, Mr Bell said “the real question is what are we doing” to address it. See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/oct/05/minister-defends-govt-efforts-address-illegal-immi/
