Rights Bahamas: Munroe’s immigration challenge “sickening”

Rights Bahamas: Munroe’s immigration challenge “sickening”
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Human rights group calls for attorney Queen’s Counsel status to be revoked

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Rights Bahamas yesterday called attorney Wayne Munroe’s suggestion the government go into Hurricane Dorian shelters to identify undocumented migrants “sickening, and shocking”, but said it was not surprised.

The human rights group called for Munroe’s Queen Counsel status to be revoked.

In an interview with Eyewitness News Online, Munroe said the government does not appear serious about enforcing its immigration policies and encouraged it to screen shelterees to determine who does not have a right to be in The Bahamas.

International human rights organizations have called on the government to suspend its immigration enforcement exercises.

In a statement, Rights Bahamas said: “The call by PLP attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, for the government to storm the hurricane shelters in order to detain suspected illegal immigrants is sickening, but not at all surprising.

“The public is reminded that this is the same individual who recommended that undocumented migrants should be flogged or caned in order to deter others from coming to the country.”

Munroe made the recommendation of corporal punishment for illegal migrants in late 2015 as a deterrent to people seeking to illegally enter the country.

At the time, the attorney said the price is too low for immigration offenses in The Bahamas, and suggested that if illegal immigrants believed “we tortured and killed them, they might not come”.

There was strong rebuke to the suggestion.

The RB statement continued: “Our vice president Joseph Darville said: ‘His QC status should be immediately revoked by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the Bahamas Bar Association should consider disbarring him over this disgraceful behaviour. He is advocating the return of the whipping post, a legacy of the darkest days of slavery’.

“We take this opportunity to give renewed support to Mr. Darville’s recommendations.

“Rights Bahamas believes Wayne Munroe’s bizarre public utterances regarding immigration enforcement represent a point of view shared by all the brutal dictators and notorious human rights abusers throughout history.

It read: “His statements are shocking, his recommended methods unconscionable and should he ever hold the position of political power he has pursued for some time now, the implications are downright frightening.”

Rights Bahamas said the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leadership, which has called Munroe an asset to the party, should rebuke the attorney who ran in Free Town under the PLP’s banner in the last election.

“His comments should also be rejected by the current government, every church leader, every human rights organization, every community activist and every right thinking individual citizen,” the group said.

“You simply do not take advantage of victims of a natural disaster when they are at their most vulnerable, full stop. This is what the international community repeatedly seeks to remind the tone deaf and backward political class of this country, seemingly to no avail.

It added: “But our politicians should beware, the intolerant policies of both parties when it comes to the issue of undocumented migration could eventually lead us to a place where crackpot ideas like those expressed by Wayne Munroe might actually become the norm.”

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.

3 comments

Are they fighting for illegal immigrants or not. But I suggest they take the Bahamas out of their name and call themselves Rights Haiti.

Their Bahamian status needs to be revoked what the hell these Haitian people going crazy a we are tired of you all coming here over burdening our country take that energy to Haiti and run for president there where you can take care of your people you louby George Fred Smith all a you carry your asses back where you came from and take these illegals with you,what the frig you all hear have to blame the past and present governments for this slackness should have put their asses in prison from the beginning for breaching our immigration laws.dnt come here trying to dictate to our government go dictate in Haiti where you all belong bahamians fed up with you all now

He is not wrong for wanting to know who is in the shelters.like I said before Haitian people burn their own jail down , now the rapist and killers are walking free trying to come to the Bahamas are you kidding me . These laws have to be in full force, you people are illegal you don’t have no say in this matter ,Joseph Darville you need to pull your resources together from all of your organizations and come with enough money to charter several planes and take them any where you want except here. You want the bar association to revoke his license for telling the truth . We are all tired of this shit .time to clean house . Don’t come to our country and tell us how to run it . The energy you have you can rally in Haiti and stop them from killing each other and make peace in Haiti so they would want to stay in their own country let your voice be heard there.

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