Eleuthera Legals Treated Unjustly
Published: Monday April 10th, 2006
The Free National Movement utterly condemns the operation in Eleuthera in which some 166 aliens with legal status were snatched from their homes in the early hours of the morning, transported to Nassau, incarcerated at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre then released and abandoned in Nassau.
It has been reported that Immigration Minister Shane Gibson said it 'was not a raid' but it is obvious that this operation was not only a raid but one that was ill-conceived and poorly executed.
This is an embarrassment to government and to the country and we can only hope that it will not do further damage to the reputation of the Bahamas abroad. The incompetent handling of sensitive matters by the PLP Government has already given the country enough bad publicity.
Mr. Gibson was at the dock to grandstand when the immigrants were brought to Nassau but then he claimed that he did not know if any of his Immigration officers were with the police on the raid.
That is totally unacceptable since Mr. Gibson obviously knew about the raid and we are informed that there were in fact two Immigration Officers on the mission who refused to participate further, and did not return to Nassau with the police.
The FNM fully supports the protection of our borders from those who traffic in illegal immigrants. We also fully support the apprehension and repatriation of all undocumented aliens to their countries of origin. But we must remain a humane nation where the rule of law prevails and the strangers within our gates are afforded the protection of that law. It is an outrage that persons residing legally in the Bahamas – holders of work and residence permits – should be so callously treated. After all, those who enforce the law must also obey the law. This applies equally to the police as it does to the citizen.
Immigration officers should have been in Eleuthera to determine on the spot that these persons were in possession of legal documentation. It was a waste of public resources to transport 166 legal residents to Nassau, but having done so the authorities should have assumed responsibility for getting them back home. Minister Gibson did not have to check after the fact to see what had been done before. Common sense should have told him that was the right thing to do.
Another regrettable aspect of this clumsy operation was that it disrupted the commercial and social life of Eleuthera and was costly for those Bahamians who legally employ the permit holders.
Because the government may have a problem with corrupt practices and forged Immigration documents is no reason to detain without legal reasons, persons in possession of valid Immigration documents.
The FNM recommends that the government should move quickly to introduce machine-readable cards which cannot be easily forged and do away with outmoded paper permits.
The FNM will not allow this matter to rest here. Party Leader Hubert Ingraham has requested a meeting with the Commissioner of Police in connection with this matter and will make a further statement following that meeting.
