Bahamas paying high price to repatriate illegal migrants

Minister of State for Immigration, Branville McCartney, said more than 4,000 migrants have been repatriated following their apprehension in the Bahamas this year.(File photo)

NASSAU, Bahamas, November 11, 2009 – Repatriating illegal immigrants is proving to be a costly exercise for the Bahamas government, with the Immigration Department spending US$1 million so far this year to send the undocumented aliens back home.

Minister of State for Immigration, Branville McCartney, said more than 4,000 migrants have been repatriated following their apprehension in the Bahamas this year.

“The cost is becoming too exorbitant in terms of our limited financial resources. In tough economic times the burden is heavier,” he said.

“We no longer have the capacity to assimilate the ever-increasing numbers of illegal migrants,” he said, adding that the Department is pleased to facilitate migrants who will contribute to the growth and expansion of the economy, business opportunities and wealth for Bahamians.
 
McCartney said the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants come from Haiti and while the Bahamas “holds no malice against such persons”, the country cannot sustain the current levels of illegal migrants from that country.

He said there was therefore a national effort to curtail illegal migration, protect and strengthen national identity, and also to protect migrants from exploitation, and death and to counter the illicit traffic in drugs and light arms.

McCartney said other plans include expediting the status of long-term residents and the registration of children born abroad to Bahamian women and their foreign spouses.

He also pledged to process more efficiently, work permit applications for expatriate skilled labor or technical expertise required by the country.