haitians in the bahamas
Bahama Islands News, Articles and Information
Training Haitian police officers
Thousands of Haitians continue to flee their strife torn, poverty-stricken country every year, headed for The Bahamas, the United States of America and other countries. No one can blame them for escaping from their pitiful situations to seek economic relief and a better way of life than they left behind. But in that mix can be found ordinary peasants, educated people, professionals and some who belong to criminal enterprises. The news that The Bahamas has agreed to train Haitian police officers at The Royal Bahamas Police Force College starting in January next year sounds good at the outset. It could be a tremendous feat for this small Bahamian nation with a population of a mere 300,000 people to train members of Haiti's police force, a country of more than eight million people.
Two plead guilty to smuggling Haitians for $40,000 payment
Two Bahamian men admitted Thursday to smuggling Haitian immigrants into Martin County aboard a boat in September in exchange for payments.Alvio Roberto Penn, 41, and Andrew Craig Gates, 38, pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of harboring illegal immigrants "for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain" in connection with two of the Haitian men who were dropped off in Rocky Point on Sept. 15.
.For US Haitians, Home Is Both Near and Far Away
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (IPS) - Roman Catholic Bishop Guy Sansaricq presides over his flock at St. Jerome's Church in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. Sitting on a busy, heavily Caribbean stretch of Nostrand Avenue, Sansaricq's office in the brick church is adorned with both a portrait of the Virgin Mary and a nave painting depicting a lyrical scene of village life from his native Haiti."You leave a piece of your heart in your native country," says Sansaricq, a voluble 72-year-old, whose appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn this past summer makes him the first Haitian-American to hold that post. "But at the same time, you need to live, you need an income, you need an education."
Sansaricq emigrated to the United States in 1971, following stints in the Bahamas and Canada.
123 'illegals' apprehended
US Coast Guard officials apprehended 123 illegal immigrants while patrolling the Windward Passage and the southern Bahamas waters."A 210-foot US Coast Guard cutter assigned to patrol the Windward Passage and the southern Bahamas region intercepted a 35-foot, northbound Haitian sail freighter," A US Department of State statement read. "Although only 50 occupants were initially visible on the vessel, 123 Haitian nationals were ultimately found onboard."
According to the US Coast Guard, the 123 Haitian nationals found aboard the Haitian sloop were transferred to their sea vessel and screened for any health -related problems.
Moreover the officials indicated that the Haitian nationals were immediately repatriated to the port of Cap Haitien the following day.
Gibson in fight for political survival
Labour and Immigration Minister Shane Gibson is in a critical fight for his political life. Once considered to be a top contender among the cadre of ambitious Progressive Liberal Party Members of Parliament who would be in the running to replace Prime Minister Perry Christie should he decide to close the book on his political career while the PLP is in power, Gibson's star has plummeted considerably as a result of the Anna Nicole Smith scandal. More likely than not, it will descend even further as the extraordinary circumstances continue to unfold with regard to the swift manner in which the Immigration Department granted permanent residency to Playboy magazine's 1993 Playmate of The Year, who gained international notoriety in 1994 after marrying Texas oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall, a man 63 years her senior.