NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas is a small island developing nation with a population of 400,000. Over the years, our country has developed the most vibrant tourism economy in the region.
We have a booming cruise sector that brings millions of people to our shores each year. We have world-class resorts with some of the best hospitality standards. There is a diversity of experiences to be had in The Bahamas, from Abaco and Grand Bahama in the north all the way down to Inagua in the south.
Our success means that others want to come here to try to make a living. While we welcome those who come the right way through legal immigration channels, there is a significant problem in The Bahamas with illegal migration from Haiti.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It has a population of more than 11 million people. The country has been in a state of dysfunction since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
A gang-led insurgency has persisted in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which has killed thousands and left more than one million people displaced.
Port-au-Prince is now 90 percent controlled by gangs. An under-resourced and under-manned Kenya-led force has tried to fight the gangs. The force has been unsuccessful, however. There are worries that gang control could spread out of Port-au-Prince and into nearby regions.
Haitians have been coming to The Bahamas for decades in search of a better life. There is more opportunity here than in their impoverished country. The current breakdown in Haiti makes things worse, as even more Haitians flee the country.
The Bahamas must stay aggressive on illegal migration if we are to protect and preserve our country for Bahamians. Otherwise, we will be overrun by a flow of people from our neighbor to the south. We have only a certain capacity to assimilate others, especially as our population significantly dwarfs that of Haiti.
In the past we have been too slack and permissive when it comes to undocumented peoples. We have allowed illegal shantytowns to be built and to spread across the archipelago. We allowed large shantytowns to develop on New Providence and Abaco, which resulted in a variety of problems.
We have allowed businesses to hire people who have no right to be in our country. We have turned a blind eye to corruption in the immigration system with phony documents being given to undocumented people for bribes.
The consequences have been tremendous for our country. There are no official statistics to inform us but certain reasonable assumptions can be made.
There are tens of thousands of undocumented people and their descendants in The Bahamas as a result of our failed and broken immigration system.
This puts significant strain on our national budget and social safety net. High numbers of undocumented people put pressure on our schools, clinics and hospitals. We have to spend tens of millions of dollars annually on Immigration Department and Defence Force enforcement efforts, along with repatriation costs.
The prime minister does not think that there is an immigration crisis. Most Bahamians rightfully and adamantly disagree with his dismissal of the ongoing crisis.
Bahamians are frustrated with the status quo with our schools and hospitals, construction sites, our airports, filled with people from Haiti.
It is time for a comprehensive review of the immigration system to bring this situation under control.
Firstly, the government must finish the shantytown policy that my administration began. Our goal was to demolish all shantytowns in The Bahamas. A court injunction stopped us. That injunction was lifted during the Davis administration’s term.
The governing party has followed through on our plans and taken down quite a few shantytowns. Many remain, however.
All must be removed through lawful means. And those people found in those communities who have no legal right to be in The Bahamas should be deported.
We must send a strong message to future undocumented Haitians who might come to The Bahamas: You will not be able to set up illegal communities if you come here. We will not tolerate our laws being broken in this manner, which sometimes leads to other illegal activities.
Secondly, the Davis administration needs to cut back on the issuance of work permits for Haitian laborers. The Bahamas has a youth unemployment rate that hovers around 20 percent. We need jobs to go to Bahamians.
The excessive issuance of work permits to Haitians only crowds The Bahamas with more people from a country we already have a large undocumented problem with.
We must train Bahamians for jobs, including in the construction industry. We must recruit Bahamians to work. The Bahamian people did not elect the Davis administration to find work for thousands of Haitians.
Thirdly, we need a strong anti-corruption drive in our immigration system. A formal review is necessary of what exists.
All of us have heard anecdotally of the issuance of status papers for a fee. What is the prevalence of the corrupt issuance of work permits, residency status and citizenship to Haitians? Have hundreds or thousands of Haitians been granted papers illegally in this manner?
The answers to these questions are important. A review is necessary to determine if our system has been compromised by corruption. There may be a need for the imposition of new controls over the immigration system to better safeguard status papers and citizenship approvals.
We The Bahamian people must be more aggressive in protecting our homeland. We have been too passive for too long as too many undocumented people from Haiti have come here. We risk losing control of our country if we do not take a stand.
Undocumented people who paid bribes for citizenship should not be able to vote in our elections.
The crisis of illegal migration is threatening Bahamian control of The Bahamas. We as a people must pressure the sitting government to do more. Thus far, they seem indifferent to the crisis we all see.
In fact, the governing party acts as if it sides with the undocumented. They are too sympathetic to the cause of foreigners. We must make our leaders, who we elected to power, govern on our behalf.
Do not sit silently by as more and more undocumented people gain rights in our country. Speak up. Demand change.
This is our homeland. We must defend it or otherwise lose it. Now is the time for all Bahamians to take a stand.
• Dr. Hubert Minnis is the Killarney member of Parliament. He is a former prime minister of The Bahamas and former leader of the FNM.
