Fred Mitchell totally discredits misinformation about The Bahamas’ new immigration policy at the Organization of American States (OAS)

From Oswald Brown:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister the Hon. Fred Mitchell totally discredited the malicious misinformation circulated nationally and internationally about The Bahamas’ new immigration policy during a major address at a Special Permanent Council Meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday, December 16, 2016.


Addressing ambassadors from OAS-member countries and a number of guests assembled in the ornate Hall of the Americas in the OAS main building on 17th Street, N.W., Mr. Mitchell made direct reference to the misinformation being circulated about the new policy by Attorney Fred Smith, President of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association.

“There are three allegations that have been made that bear addressing in this forum which go to the heart of the matter: our country’s reputation,” Mr. Mitchell said. “There is a Queen’s Counsel in The Bahamas who heads a human rights organization which is connected around the world and whose allegations have made headlines in the hemisphere and around the world. The specific charges must be refuted.”

Attorney Smith has recklessly accused the government of “institutional terrorism,” “ethnic cleansing,” and “running Auschwitz in The Bahamas,” referring to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

“The latter statement alleged in particular that this minister was responsible for Auschwitz in The Bahamas,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Madame Chair, words have meanings and when a Queen’s Counsel makes such a statement he must be put to proof. Certainly the government of The Bahamas is bound to respond. Let me be clear: there is no institutional terrorism, no ethnic cleansings, no Auschwitz in The Bahamas. No group is being targeted for elimination in The Bahamas, no mass murder is occurring in The Bahamas and certainly none which is sponsored or sanctioned by the state. There is no evidence anywhere that this is the case and we refute it absolutely. We once again repeat the invitation to the human rights bodies to inspect at any time and without notice.”

Mr. Mitchell emphasized that the United Nations Human Rights Commission has a representative in The Bahamas and “they have been to the detention centre and can say whether or not we are operating gas chambers and engaging in mass murder in the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.”

“The remarks are so outrageous and absolutely irresponsible and I condemn without reservation,” the Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister emphatically stated.

Earlier in his address Mr. Mitchell said that on “behalf of Prime Minister Perry Christie, the government and Peoples of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, I appear here today to deal with a serious matter: the reputation of The Bahamas.”

“Nothing is more important to us than that in the international arena, whether in the hemisphere or in the sub region or around the world,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Reputation is everything. The respect which we have around the world, depends upon our reputation. My nation of less than 400,000 souls thrives off its reputation. Tourism is our main business. People come to The Bahamas as tourists because they believe and perceive that it is better in The Bahamas, and it is.”

Noting that The Bahamas is paradise and “we work very hard to maintain that reputation,” Mr. Mitchell said thousands of business people and “non-Bahamian residents live in our country because it has a stellar reputation as a safe place for investment and wealth management: a well regulated, transparent jurisdiction.”

“What we know however is that we must be eternally vigilant in protecting our reputation: correcting untruths and misperceptions where they exist and of course ensuring that within our borders and in our external relations we so conduct ourselves that we to the extent that our resources permit adhere to the highest standards and best practices as set by the international community,” the Foreign Affairs Minister said. “I am here today to reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the rule of law, due process, the international treaties on migration and all the instruments to which we adhere in the Inter-American system. Please be assured of that.”

He added, “This assurance goes out to friend and foe alike and has become necessary because of the misinformation that has been circulated by two innocuous administrative measures that were announced by The Bahamas, which took effect on 1st November 2014. The policies were contained in a one page document which advised the public that work permit applications would not be accepted for those people who did not have legal status in The Bahamas without them first being certified as being seen by one of our consular officers in their home country or in the nearest office to their home country.

“The second was that all non-nationals who live in The Bahamas would have to get and hold the passport of their nationality and obtain a residency permit, which would be evidence that they have the right to live and work in The Bahamas.”

Mr. Mitchell said these policies should not have been a surprise to anyone, adding that the political party “to which I belong announced that we would be perusing immigration reforms prior to our election to office in 2012.”

Mr. Mitchell pointed out that on an official visit of the President of Haiti to The Bahamas on July 28, “we advised the Haitian government that we proposed to do so and sought their advice on whether they could meet the expected demand for passports at their embassy.”

“The President indicated that they could,” Mr. Mitchell said. “This was followed up with a similar exchange at the margins of the United Nations in September with the Foreign Minister of Haiti, my distinguished colleague. We have since spoken with the Minister in the margins of the summit in Havana Cuba last week and the Haitian government has indicated that they will take measures to meet the demand. I thank them.”

The Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister stressed that the Department of Immigration, which is charged with the responsibility for executing the new policies, has an enforcement unit and each day, they go out and do immigration checks.

“The press both at home and abroad keep referring to these as round ups or raids,” Mitchell emphasized. “There are no round ups in The Bahamas. Round ups are for cattle not people. Words make a difference.”

On November 1, Mr. Mitchell added, they did what they usually do “and in the course of one of these checks, parents abandoned their children and left the children unaccompanied in their homes. This was later borne out by the parent in the press who indicated that he ran and told the children do not to open the door.”

“The constitution of our country empowers officers to arrest people who are committing offences on the following standard: a reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed, is being committed or is about to be committed,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Officers are briefed on that standard and reminded of their responsibility in law to treat everyone with respect and with dignity and to afford everyone due process. So far as I am aware they have stuck to that standard. The government does not sanction any deviation from that standard.”

He said the International Human Rights Commission is invited along with the Organization for American States “to come at any time and inspect our procedures and facilities and see whether what we are saying is correct.”

“We are open and transparent and have absolutely nothing to hide,” he insisted. “Where there are shortfalls, we are committed to ensuring that those are corrected.”

December 16, 2014

Oswald Brown - FaceBook

Daphne Campbell, Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives ...vowed to stop at nothing until tourists and international businesses boycott The Bahamas ...because of controversial immigration policies

Florida Politician Calls For Boycott Of Bahamas

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A FLORIDA lawmaker of Haitian descent vowed yesterday to stop at nothing until tourists and international businesses boycott this country because of controversial immigration policies that came into effect on November 1.

Daphne Campbell, Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, spoke in Florida about the matter during a press conference broadcast on Channel 7 news yesterday.

At one point during the conference, she exclaimed: “Boycott Bahamas! Boycott Bahamas to end discrimination against Haitian children!”  

Proclaiming to be a “voice for the voiceless,” Mrs Campbell later told this newspaper that she took her position after seeing a video showing Haitian children facing deportation to Haiti being led away during recent immigration arrests.

Distressed Haitian parents in Florida showed her the video, along with other “alarming” photos, she said.

She said Bahamian government officials have one week to apologise and reverse the new policies, or she will travel here with a delegation to address them face-to-face.

She also pledged to be persistent in raising awareness around the world about the “injustices” performed in this country as long as the immigration policies remain unchanged.

She said she will hold another press conference in a week if officials here do not reverse the policies.

Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell dismissed her threats yesterday.

“She’s a fool,” he said when contacted for comment. “Anyone who talks about boycotting the Bahamas, I can’t have any time for them. That’s absolute rot. It’s amazing the stupidity that’s circulating around this. It’s just astounding.”

He later noted in a statement that her claims about Haitian children being mistreated here are false.

Mrs Campbell said Haitian parents in Florida, expressing their distress over recent immigration apprehensions in this country, have been overcome with emotion as they seek her help even while she campaigns for re-election. 

“I got the information from a group of Haitian parents who came to my office in alarming and overwhelming distress,” she said. “I was preparing my campaign for my re-election. Even though I have a very nasty opponent, I put everything on the side to make sure my office wrote a letter to the Bahamian government, the prime minister of the Bahamas and we even reached out to the consulate in Miami. Plenty people came to my office to complain with videos and pictures.”

“I call on President Obama, Governor (Rick) Scott and the people who are supposed to make sure the voice of the voiceless are heard; we must boycott Bahamas.”

Asked how she planned to succeed in her efforts, she said: “We will do as much we can. I am a lawmaker. I could slap Bahamas with a law in Florida.”

“I will get all my colleagues with me,” she added. “I will get elected officials. We have Cuban elected officials with us supporting that initiative because it involves every culture, everybody who understands the meaning of children.”

She said children born in the Bahamas should never be deported.

“To me it is very unfair (to deport them),” she said. “It’s an injustice. . .for them to be deported to a country they don’t know, a country they can’t speak the language of, with no one to take care of them, to be deported – that’s terrible.”

“Bahamian culture has been doing this for years,” she continued. “I think they have no heart of God of all.”

November 11, 2014

Tribune242

Bahamas Immigration Policy Update

" I wish to remind the public that the constitution of The Bahamas does not give citizenship at birth to those born here of foreign parents."

I wish to give a brief statement in response to the feedback on the administrative measures announced by me in the House of Assembly on Immigration.

I said that there would be certain changes expected on 1st November following a period of feedback.

Nothing that has come back by way of feedback on the policies indicates that there is a need to change that administrative starting date. The date will therefore stand as the commencement date of the policy.

The policy is not aimed at any national group in The Bahamas. It is generic in nature. It seeks only to better ensure that the people who live and reside in The Bahamas have the lawful authority to do so, either because they are citizens of The Bahamas or they have permits to reside or work here.

I repeat that with immediate effect, we are no longer accepting applications for first time applicants for residence or work permits from those who have no legal status in The Bahamas. Those persons also will no longer be able simply to demonstrate that they have departed The Bahamas. This is in response to the increased suspicion of fraud in connection with these applications. In order for such a first time application to be processed, where the individual has no legal status in The Bahamas, the applicant must be seen and certified as having been seen by an officer of the nearest Bahamian embassy if there is no Bahamian embassy in the applicant's home country. The embassies are in a position to process these certifications.

Secondly, all those who are not nationals of The Bahamas who live in this country beginning 1st November will be required to have the passport of their nationality and evidence that they have permission to live or work in The Bahamas.

This may represent a broad class of people. I wish to remind the public that the constitution of The Bahamas does not give citizenship at birth to those born here of foreign parents. Those children have a right to apply at their eighteenth birthday and before their nineteenth birthday for citizenship of The Bahamas. Up to the time they are granted citizenship, in law they are not Bahamian citizens. This means that these people will be required to have a residence permit to reside lawfully in The Bahamas.

This is a requirement for which there will be no exceptions, save and except where someone is stateless. In the case of a stateless individual, the Government will provide an identity document but otherwise the practice of issuing certificates of identity is to cease on 1st November. When the currency of existing certificates of identity expires, they will not generally be reissued or renewed.

We will speak with the all embassies in The Bahamas and we anticipate that embassies will be able to meet that demand for passports.

We anticipate also that in the case of one national group it may take administratively some three months to meet and process that demand and for the Department of Immigration to process the volume of applications for resident permits.

In any event, we expect that by 15th January 2015, most people will have complied with this requirement and certainly that children will have complied for the start of the school term in 2015. If any citizen has a difficulty, they should contact their local embassy for assistance with particular problems.

These measures are for the general good and will provide a more secure form of documentation for all who work and live in The Bahamas. I would therefore urge all citizens residing lawfully in The Bahamas to comply with these new measures.

Those who are not here lawfully should expect increased vigilance and enforcement on the part of the law enforcement authorities in The Bahamas.

I wish to thank the public for their support of the measures, and for the responsible manner in which these have been accepted.

In particular, I would wish to commend the continuing dialogue with leaders of the Haitian community and for their efforts to ensure compliance with these administrative measures.

The door remains open for continued comment and dialogue as we seek to make The Bahamas a more secure place to live.


Bahamas News Ma Bey