Brent Symonette highlights persistent immigration woes
JUAN McCARTNEY
Guardian Senior Reporter
thenassauguardian
juan@nasguard.com
Complicated deportation processes, fraudulent immigration documents and Bahamians harboring illegal migrants are just a few of the issues that continue to plague the Department of Immigration, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette has said.
Symonette said when the 2010-2011 budgetary period closed at the end of June, the Carmichael Road Detention Center was populated by “a number of nationals” who are difficult to repatriate.
“In one case I think we had to pay $6,000 [or so] for the ticket to send that person home,” Symonette said at a press conference Thursday.
“We have a budget of $1,000,000 [or so]. Obviously a large percentage of that is [to repatriate] persons in the immediate area in the Caribbean. But we are seeing a number of Nigerians [and] a number of persons from the African continent coming in.
“[And those people] are very difficult to get home because they have to get visas for the countries that they pass through.”
Symonette said repatriating people to Cuba is also “a difficult issue.”
“If you’ve been outside Cuba more than 11 months, there comes some difficulty [with] deporting persons back to Cuba,” he said.
Symonette said even though the population at the detention center is relatively low at the moment, there is still a lot to be done to get those detainees home.
He also said that forged papers are continually submitted to immigration officials.
“I came across a file (Wednesday) with a letter written in [a particular] year that looked neater than this paper that was done (Wednesday),” said Symonette as he pointed to an actual immigration file.
“The stamps even felt wet. It’s a serious issue. Immigration reports them to police and then the police take over.”
He also noted that immigration officials continue to find Bahamians helping illegal immigrants evade the law.
“We may have to look at the laws regarding harboring of illegals and start charging people who harbor illegal immigrants,” he said.
Jul 16, 2011
thenassauguardian
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label illegal migrants Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illegal migrants Bahamas. Show all posts
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