Governments 'fear Haitians who can now vote'
By TANEKA THOMPSON
Deputy Chief Reporter
tthompson@tribunemedia.net
A STRONG "voters' block" made up of naturalised citizens is one reason successive governments have not taken a strong stance against the illegal immigration dilemma, said Opposition Leader Perry Christie yesterday.
The Progressive Liberal Party chief said when his party assumed office in 2002, it found an immigration policy in place that mandated that any immigrant who came to the Bahamas before 1985 would be afforded status but after 1985 government would be able to use its discretion on whether or not to regularise them. He said the PLP left this policy in place despite calls from the Haitian government to adjust this policy.
However, this policy has influenced subsequent immigration policy, he said.
"We have to recognise the pitfall of this in the execution of the policy. Once governments become frightened of the numbers of Haitians who have become Bahamians and who can vote. Therefore they have become an important voting block, so somewhere along the line the purity of the commitment to protect the Bahamas and its territorial waters is sort of merged to the fear of doing things that might cause you to lose an election.
". . .We allowed ourselves to be influenced too much by their presence as opposed to using our own commitment to convince and satisfy them that they are Bahamians, accepted as Bahamians, and that the programmes that we are offering them to close down illegal immigrants coming into our country are programmes as much in their favour as in any other Bahamian's favour.
"A will has to be developed," he said. "With developing it, there has to be an understanding on our part that the Haitian-Bahamian is in fact a Bahamian.
"And we must not be insecure in speaking to them as Bahamians and getting them to be a part of what we're doing because we're protecting the country for them.
"We are all in the same boat."
Mr Christie added that Bahamians have to realise that the country has been a melting pot of different nationalities for decades who must all be included in a national discussion on immigration policies.
He added that government must expend the same financial resources to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, to allow it to properly man the country's borders, which was spent on the ongoing public infrastructure programmes.
"We have to do better, we have to do more and most certainly if God gives me the opportunity to form the next government of the Bahamas that is the kind of resolve that we will bring to governance and the kind of, I think, stiff application of policies that will take place," he added.
Mr Christie also took shots at Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest who, he said, disparaged him in the lead up to the 2002 election for not having a handle on the crime problem at the time.
"Now they rue the day they said that," said Mr Christie, noting the 87 murders recorded for the year and record breaking murder statistics which have happened under the Free National Movement's watch.
August 08, 2011
tribune242
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