The Royal Bahamas Defence Force appears to have its hands full as just five days into the New Year, a total of 363 illegal immigrants have so far been apprehended.
The latest apprehension came Monday morning when residents of Venice Bay – a gated community off Carmichael Road – spotted a Haitian sloop in nearby waters shortly after 6:00am.
Members of the RBDF were immediately dispatched to the area and as a result of the combined efforts of residents, the Department of Immigration, and the Police, 132 migrants – 101 males, 23 females and eight children – were apprehended.
RBDF authorities said a 40-ft white and blue sailboat was also found in the same vicinity of Venice Bay where the migrants were apprehended.
The 132 Haitian nationals have since been turned over to immigration officials for further processing at the Carmichael Road Detention Center, where as of Monday afternoon, Senior Immigration Officer Leonard Smith said a total of 370 immigrants were being housed.
But late yesterday evening that number decreased after 124 immigrants were repatriated, according to Immigration Director Jack Thompson. He said a pregnant woman who arrived in the group that was captured Monday was also repatriated.
This latest apprehension on Monday came less than a week after two separate apprehensions were reported last Friday, when the RBDF apprehended 75 undocumented Haitians off the southern tip of Long Island. On that same day, 156 Haitians made landfall on Ragged Island.
Royal Bahamas Defence Force Sr. Lt. Sonia Miller told the Bahama Journal Monday that while concerned, the Force is doing its best to keep illegal migration under control.
"When it comes to any influx of illegal migrants or activity within the waters of The Bahamas, we would be concerned about it," she said. "I also want to say that we are putting our best efforts forward to prevent those [illegal immigrants] from coming in. We have our vessels in the southern Bahamas. They are doing patrols down there. We have them in the central and northern Bahamas and we also have air surveillance."
The Senior Lieutenant said so many immigrants risk travelling to The Bahamas during the winter months because the weather conditions are very favourable for sailing vessels that are used by many immigrants.
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration spent $1.1 million dollars last year, repatriating 7,058 illegal immigrants to their respective homelands, of which Haitians made up the majority of immigrants, followed by Jamaicans and Dominicans.
Last week, Director of Immigration Jack Thompson maintained that the illegal immigration problem is under control.
"We are just doing all that we can to ensure that illegal immigrants are not ‘meshing’ in our communities," he said. "There is no way that we in The Bahamas can take so much people in these large numbers. As fast as they are coming in we are taking them out. I don’t think we should be concerned. We have it under control."
