NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Immigration Director Kenturah Ferguson said there is no information supporting the claim that 150,000 Haitians live in The Bahamas.
She was asked yesterday to comment on the figure after Haiti’s Chargé d’Affaires to The Bahamas Anthony Brutus made the claim during an Office of the Prime Minister press conference on Friday.
Brutus was asked what efforts the Haitian Embassy is making to discourage illegal migration. This comes after a vessel capsized off Blackbeard’s Cay last week, killing 17 people.
Brutus, according to a translator, said the tragedy provides an opportunity.
“That’s why I said when those things happen there’s a reason,” he said.
“Speaking about immigration, Canada, the United States, there’s a way that they deal with it. At the embassy, we cannot discourage anyone but we can ask them to apply for a visa just like the United States is doing and Canada is doing.
“At that time the Bahamas government can select who can come in. That happens in every country around the world.
“The only way that we can discourage the Haitian nationals from traveling illegally is to open up a visa system for the public.
“The Haitians then can apply, the ones that get it, get it, the ones that are refused, are refused. That would be a better way for the Bahamas and Haiti to have a better relationship.
“It’s about an hour from the Bahamas to Haiti. There’s no way that Haitians can go to the Bahamas and where Bahamians can go to Haiti.
“There are a lot of Haitians that are traveling the goes to Cuba. They go to the US, They go to Santa Domingo. There are 150,000 Haitians here in the Bahamas. Around that number, there are persons that are here legally and about 20 plus years in this country. The persons that are here legally can have a better relationship with others that want to come here, they will be able to flow and apply for a visa and come into the country legally.”
Brutus’ comments come as a census takes place in the country to determine the population size and composition.
“I guess we have to wait for the census to see what’s happened,” Ferguson said.
“(That figure is) not according to the official records but we have to wait for the census.
“The last census did not reveal anything near that but we have to wait for this census to be completed.
“So unless he shares that with us, there’s no way to know without waiting for the census. Quite frankly, I don’t know if it was a misunderstanding of what was said or if it was actual fact. If he has it I guess we can ask him to share. You can perhaps ask him to share where the information came from.
The last census in 2010 noted that of the 351,461 people living in the country, 39,`44 were Haitians. Experts, however, noted that it can be difficult to account for undocumented people during a census.
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