More illegal migrants landed on Andros this morning!
NASSAU| Over the past two (2) days, teams of officers from the Immigration Department and Royal Bahamas Defence Force were dispatched to Clarence Town, Long Island, and Mars Bay, Andros on Interdiction Operations.
The Long Island Operation is headed by Chief Immigration Officer, Harold Thurston, Officer-in-Charge of the Enforcement Unit and his team; while the Mars Bay Operation is headed by Superintendent of Immigration, Stephen Laroda, Officer-in-Charge of the Anti-Corruption Unit and his team.
Both teams are ably assisted by officers of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Today, forty-five (45) Haitian nationals on Long Island appeared before Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt in the Magistrate’s Court, Long Island.
Twenty-two (22) adult males and one (1) adult female were processed, arraigned and sentenced to six (6) months at The Bahamas Department of Corrections for Illegal Landing; while one (1) additional adult female was sentenced to one (1) year and six (6) months to run concurrently for the charges of Deceit of a Public Officer and Illegal Landing.
The remaining twenty-one (21) adult migrants pled guilty to the charge of Illegal Landing and were all granted a conditional discharge and ordered deported at the earliest opportunity. Direct repatriation from Long Island through Exuma is currently being arranged onboard a Bahamasair flight.
Additionally, the group of forty-five (45) Haitian males and seven (7) Haitian females found on Mars Bay, Andros, is expected to appear before a sitting Magistrate as early as Wednesday, 30th December, 2020.
The public is reminded that The Department of Immigration is committed to carrying out the mandates of our agency to combat illegal migration by establishing effective border control management to ensure compliance with the Statute Laws of our country.
We further wish to remind members of the public that it is a criminal offence punishable by law to harbour illegal migrants in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, and admonishes those wishing to enter the country to come legally or not at all.
