NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis said some countries in the international community have asked him to commit The Bahamas to accepting more irregular migrants.
His comment came during yesterday’s press conference after 17 migrants were killed while trying to leave New Providence, with others suspected dead.
“The world is suggesting that we should absorb all of those who leave Haiti,” he said.
“That’s what they will say to me. When I was at the summit of Americas they wanted me to sign onto an irregular migration declaration…but we have our own peculiar circumstance that I keep reminding the world of.
“We are unable to open our borders to irregular migration and refugees either because of our own limited resources and because they ask us to do things but at the end of the day who foots the bill, you, the taxpayers. So we have the delicate balance that we are going through.”
Rising gang violence has plunged Haiti into turmoil, with the United Nations’ human rights office expressing concern about the increasing deaths which include hundreds in recent weeks.
“The situation in Haiti is really, really serious and we don’t know what the answer will be,” Davis said.
“There are talks about imposing the will of other countries on to the people but as I said we want it to be a Haitian solution but whether that is possible we will only know as we engage with the gang leaders in Haiti which we intend to do very shortly.”
Davis said CARICOM has appointed himself, the prime minister of Jamaica and the prime minister of Barbados on a committee looking at how to resolve the Haitian crisis.
“…A resolution was finally passed about a week and half ago so that we can continue the presence of the UN peacekeepers on the ground,” he said.
“The question is whether there will be any intervention. The position of CARICOM has always been that the solution has to be a Haitian solution rather than an imposed solution and that continues to be our position and we are to engage very soon in attempting to bring the factions together.
“At the moment it’s just gang wars, it is a failed state as we speak and efforts to bring the warring parties, and I say the gang leaders together are in train as I speak.
“In so far as The Bahamas is concerned and the protection of the exodus from Haiti, as you would’ve heard from the deputy commodore, from which I give them very high praise, we have been able to very effectively over the last two, three months to prevent any entry into The Bahamas and that is due primarily because of the efforts of the Bahamas defence force in collaboration with the US Coast Guard and I could add the Cuban Coast Guard that is in contact with our defence force.”
Davis added: “So we’ve been very successful over the last two, three months in particular so you would not have heard of any landings in recent months.”
