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More Penalties for Employers of Illegal Immigrants in The Bahamas
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

PM: Stiffer penalties for employers of illegal immigrants -
By ERICA WELLS, Guardian News Editor:
Nassau, Bahamas -




Employers hiring illegal immigrants could soon face more public penalties as the government works to reign in the number of illegal immigrants that flock to Bahamian shores every year.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who believes that the country's immigration problem is fueled by Bahamians who employ illegal immigrants, told The Nassau Guardian that the government is expected to revise the existing laws, and will put the public on notice that the laws will be enforced.

"If there were no jobs, they would not be coming here," said the prime minister.

"We are going to give notice so that people would know that it is not just going to be a slap on the wrist, that the (the illegal immigrant) will be taken to the detention center and deported and I can't walk on the street like I've done nothing wrong," he added.

"Society will know this person was working for 'Hubert Ingraham' and he was found guilty... and let that be a warning to others not to be doing the same thing."

While thousands of immigrants are picked up and deported each year for working in The Bahamas illegally, punishment for those hiring the immigrants appeared to be rarely enforced or at least not publicized.

Just yesterday, hundreds of Haitian immigrants were picked up off southern New Providence in an overloaded sloop. Some are feared dead while at least eight others were taken to hospital to be treated for injuries.

According to the latest statistics, from January to June 2008, 685 illegal immigrants were apprehended - the large majority of whom were Haitian nationals. Over the past eight years, close to 16,000 illegal Haitians were picked up, according to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.

Exact figures for the number of illegal immigrants living in The Bahamas are unavailable; however, estimates have put the number of illegals living in the country anywhere from 60,000 to 70,000, but some believe that number could be much higher.

And as far as quantifying just how many illegal immigrants are living in The Bahamas, the Prime Minister Ingraham said that could be very difficult to determine, if not impossible.

Statistics relating to legal Haitians living in The Bahamas was at 11,000 in 1980. The last official count was around 21,000 in the year 2000.

Ingraham said the government was aggressively seeking to first prevent the flow of illegal immigrants, and when they are found, to repatriate them.

"Systematically, everyday, we seek to find and cause to be repatriated illegal immigrants from The Bahamas, whatever their nationality," said Ingraham, who noted that the fleet of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force has been expanded — two vessels were added last week and two more are expected next month.

Ingraham also pointed out that as aggressive as officials will be in their attempts to bring the immigration problem under control, they will always operate within international standards and laws.

"We will deal with humans humanely," said the prime minister. "We will not go (to their homes) in the middle of the night, we will not go to their churches or around hospitals or hanging around schools. We are not of that ilk."

July 30, 2008 | 12:45 PM Comments  0 comments



Bahamians and Other Caribbean Citizens Want More Information on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with European Union Countries
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

More information needed on EPA:
Nassau Guardian Editorial -
Nassau, Bahamas:



A number of concerned citizens have been expressing their opinions on the intriguing yet controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). While those who have some idea of what it entails, there are others who state they do not understand and are requiring that the government and business leaders explain what will happen if The Bahamas signs on to such a treaty.

Just recently, a local economic activist was publicly stating his support of a petition which calls for the EPA to be renegotiated. Paul Moss, chairman of Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on Free Trade (BARF), revealed that he and other members of his organization have signed the online petition which questions the trade agreement.

The petition, which can be found at ipetitions.com, is sponsored by regional civil organizations in the Caribbean that are deeply concerned about the EPA.

Supporters of the petition include members of CARIFORUM states (CARICOM and the Dominican Republic). Since the petition began on July 1, more than 270 people have signed on, demanding their governments take a closer look at the EPA.

The petition specifically calls for regional governments to limit the EPA only to what is required to make it World Trade Organization (WTO) compatible; make specific legally-binding provisions in the EPA for financial and technical assistance from the European Commission, to be used in the development of industries such as agriculture and services; insert legally binding criteria designed to measure the socio-economic impacts of the EPA on key segments of society – women, youth children, farmers, workers and fisher-folk; and a mandatory review of the EPA provisions that allow for the possibility of renegotiation; within three years of signature of the agreement.

In May of this year, a number of Bahamians assembled in Rawson Square for a peaceful protest against the government in which several of them were under the impression that our nation's leaders had already signed the agreement.

They contend that they wanted to know what the government was doing about EPA and that once they knew, they would then know how to proceed with their lives, especially those who expressed fear over the nation's job market being overrun by foreign workers.

Some felt that even though one can understand some of their concerns, the fact that they were speaking out on an issue in which they were 'misinformed' needed to be addressed, proving that the Bahamian public must be further educated on what the EPA is all about and the government must stress, on a more national level, what plans they have for the future regarding this controversial trade agreement.

Responding to the public's concerns about EPA, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham noted in the House of Assembly that the government wants the Bahamian public to be fully informed on the context of this crucial decision which will have to be made shortly and that they (government) has committed themselves to 'diligently' provide the Bahamian public with a comprehensive briefing.

"It is an issue on which we, as a democracy, shall take an informed decision and not one based on poor and misleading information. My government and its agencies will continue to work very hard to fully inform the Bahamian public and their parliamentary representatives before any final decisions are taken."

However, Moss says that BARF signed the petition because they felt that the EPA is not in the best interest of The Bahamas and needs to be renegotiated, or that The Bahamas needs to take a different route of negotiation.

The EPA is designed to open up trade between ACP countries (Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific) with European Union countries. The Bahamas government initialed the trade agreement on December 16, 2007. The government has yet to strategize and finalize its service offer. And, now it seems as if there are some who feel that they should not continue with it all.

July 29, 2008 | 11:44 AM Comments  0 comments



Marijuana Use and Cultivation on the Rise in The Bahamas
Related to country: Bahamas

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Marijuana Use and Cultivation on the Rise:
By VIRAJ PERPALL -
Nassau, Bahamas:



A noted rise in the cultivation and teen usage of marijuana in the Bahamas is prompting government officials to begin surveys once again in schools to find out how many youth are involved in the soliciting of illegal drugs and drug abuse.

According to Deputy Director Designate of the Anti-Drug Secretariat Terrance Fountain, studies in The Bahamas have shown that marijuana is the drug of choice by far, for teenage senior high school youth – an issue he claims that has far reaching social implications far beyond high school.

In a recent interview with The Bahama Journal Mr. Fountain said that though The Bahamas has been regarded generally as a transit country for illegal drugs, he added that the cultivation of marijuana in recent times has gone up.

He said that this calls for great concern seeing that marijuana is proven to be the most popular illegal drug for teenagers and young men.

"While the last school drug survey was done in 2002 I don’t suspect much would have changed in terms of experimentation with marijuana which by far is the drug of choice within our schools and among our young people," Mr. Fountain said.

He said that a high school drug survey is currently being organized and prepared for the coming fall school semester as many young people in schools are at risk to the drug.

Mr. Fountain who has specific responsibility for the National Drug Observatory, the statistics research and information arm of the Anti-Drug Secretariat, said that the issue of drug abuse cannot be properly addressed until proper research is done on the topic.

He said that from the last school drug survey it was discovered that between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of young people in The Bahamas had experimented with marijuana at least once in their lifetime.

He said that even within the school arena, some populations of students are more susceptible for marijuana use than others.

"We can’t paint everyone with a broad brush, if this is a population that is more susceptible than our activities and efforts need to be directed towards that group.

"Not ignoring the others but putting the focus where the focus should be. As it is right now, it is more amongst males and older male young people," he said.

He added that the gender ratio of males to females going into The College of the Bahamas is also directly related to this occurrence.

Mr. Fountain said that the need for more drug research in The Bahamas is rising and added that his responsibility will be to supply information needed by the government and various other organized bodies.

"There will be a need for indicators at the national level to give an indication of where we (The Bahamas) are in our efforts in the fight against drugs. And that will put us in a position where we can plan more appropriately.

"We can assist the policy makers and it will put us in a position where we can monitor and evaluate and determine how effective we (The Bahamas) will be in the fight against drugs," Mr. Fountain said.

Mr. Fountain said that only when proper research is put into perspective will officials see whether or not anti-drug efforts in The Bahamas are assisting in the fight against illegal drugs.

He said that only then will the answers to many questions come such as: "What is going on with our students? Are the anti-drug efforts taking place in our schools bearing fruit? Is the proportion of people who experiment with drugs for the first time up or down? What proportion of those people who experiment will go on to continue to use drugs?"

Mr. Fountain said that one of the questions he asked the young people in the past surveys was ‘where do you get your information form?’

He said that from the responses, he found that the older young people get, the more they learn about drugs from friends and get information on drug use from the Internet and other sources.

"I think we have a long way to go with our respect to our educational efforts on drug abuse. We need to be more specific with the message and segment that message to everyone who needs to get it.

This has to be supported by laws and policies Mr. Fountain added.

He added that he is pleased with the fight against illegal drugs in recent times in The Bahamas and said that drug seizures are an indication of the in-country effort to fight illegal drugs.

Just last week law enforcement in Grand Bahama seized over $2 million from a Grand Bahama construction worker.

The man was taken into custody after being found in possession of more than $2.3 million dollars in cash, police reported Thursday.

The 50-year-old man of Haitian origin was placed under arrest from last Monday. That’s when police allegedly found him in possession of $2,378,213 dollars in cash – all but $18,495 in U.S. currency, according to Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Hulan Hanna.

Officers from the Central Detective and Drug Enforcement Units arrived at the man’s #2 Royal Palm Apartment, located on Fortune Drive in Freeport, around 9 pm Monday, he said.

Officers were alerted to the scene after someone tripped an alarm at the complex Mr. Hanna said.


28 July, 2008