NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis yesterday announced that his administration will undertake a comprehensive review of the ‘checks and balances’ regarding how immigration decisions are made, with the hope of strengthening them.
While the Opposition has raised numerous concerns regarding immigration matters over the past several weeks and raised some questions in Parliament, Prime Minster Davis said that in many instances, the Opposition’s questions were based on wrong and inaccurate information.
The Prime Minister also stressed the need for safeguarding individuals’ privacy and maintaining public trust when handling sensitive information within government departments.
“I want everyone to understand that when civil servants share the names and personal details of individuals from files in the custody of their department, they are in violation of the law, and they have breached the public trust. People who share their private information with the Government of The Bahamas, in departments across our Ministries should be able to do so with confidence that they will not find their names being shouted at press conferences or thrown around to score political points,” said Davis.
Still, he underscored the importance of Bahamians having confidence that immigration matters are handled fairly, in accordance with the law, and in the best interest of The Bahamas and the Bahamian people.
“There has always been a substantial amount of discretion in the enforcement of immigration laws in our country and in other countries in the Westminster system. There are practical reasons for that, including the need for flexibility to respond to unique or complex situations and the need to respond to new and changing circumstances without requiring constant legislative changes. And, of course, that discretion operates within a system of checks and balances to promote fairness and due process,” said Davis.
“Just because a system has always operated a particular way doesn’t mean it can’t be strengthened or improved,” he added.
“As you have heard me say on many occasions, I didn’t come here to defend the status quo, I came here to change it. When there are ways to improve governance, we are going to modernize the system instead of maintaining it.”
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