Bell: Bahamas Nationality Act draft is nothing new
NASSAU BAHAMAS — Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell said there is no crisis in immigration and no plan to change the laws on citizenship as he pushed back against amendments proffered by Coalition of Independents (COI) leader Lincoln Bain last week.
In a voice note addressing last week’s incident at the House of Assembly, Mitchell referred to Bain as a false prophet seeking ‘publicity for a cause’ with his followers.
“The government has already indicated there is no crisis in immigration and no plan to change the laws on citizenship. Citizens have a right to protest and advocate changing laws, but no citizen, devil, prophet, or otherwise has the right to interfere with my right to go to Parliament, on my right to speak freely,” said Mitchell in a voice note.
Mitchell added that ‘rights are not a one-way street’ explaining that preserving the rights of politicians and the public is also important.
He said: “The false prophet, if he wants to get into the House of Assembly, should go get a real party run and a seat for a real party. Get 50 percent plus one, and if he wins, he can then get into the House of Assembly without resorting to insurrection.”
Meanwhile, Labour and Immigration Minister Keith Bell told the media on Friday that he has reviewed the citizenship draft legislation amendment document, and it is in the process of being sent to the office of the Attorney General.
”As you would appreciate any person in the Bahamas, […] has the right to actually bring or ask their member of parliament to consider a matter of public importance, significance and in doing that the appropriate thing to do would be to take it to the office of the Attorney General and so once I get feedback from the Office of the Attorney General then we would consider it,” Bell said.
On Wednesday morning, Bain and a number of his supporters stood in front of the House of Assembly (HOA) attempting to hand out white envelopes they said contained a draft bill to the Bahamas Nationality Act.
The amendment seeks to ban children born to irregular migrants from applying for citizenship.
The group clashed with police who sought to relocate the group from the steps of Parliament to Rawson Square, leading to the arrest of Bain COI leader and eight others.
They were charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction in connection with their protest in Parliament Square, among other related charges.
Bell told the press at the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday that the process of law reform is ongoing, therefore, the draft will be considered.
“I don’t want to get into the intricate details but what he is proposing is nothing new,” Bell said.
”it is something, again, that requires deep thought and in my view, it requires very, very, very widespread consultation with the Bahamian people to ensure that that is something we would want to put not our legislation.”
The Immigration minister declined to comment on the contents of the document but said they will carry on with the due process in dealing with the request.
”Only to say that, it has been referred number one, it is something that isn’t anything new, and thirdly there has to be widespread dialogue and consultation with the Bahamian people,” Bell said.
