Sign of the Times: Bahamas strikes tough tone on [Haitian] immigration at UN

The foreign minister of the Bahamas said Tuesday his country is determined to control illegal immigration, saying that allowing it to balloon could be a "recipe for civil strife."

Frederick Mitchell struck a tough tone during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, less than two weeks after his government announced a measure making it harder for migrants to work in the island chain.

The Caribbean country is considering additional restrictions as part of a plan that appears mostly aimed at large numbers of Haitians who have settled there.

Mitchell said controlling illegal immigration in the Bahamas is "central to our survivability as a country, central to our national identity and central to our national security," he said.

"We have only to see today how it drains our financial resources, and we do not have to look far to see how unchecked immigration in other countries has been a recipe for civil strife within their borders.

"We do not intend for that to happen to us," Mitchell said.

Full article: Bahamas strikes tough tone on immigration at UN | The Miami Herald

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On the 20th of September was published that the Bahamas is tightening work permits.


The government of The Bahamas has announced a measure aimed at making it harder for migrants to work in the country and said it was considering additional restrictions, according to the Associated Press.

The report said that the plan appeared mostly aimed at the large numbers of Haitians who have settled in the country in recent years.

Full article: Bahamas tightens up on work permits - Stabroek News - Georgetown, Guyana

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His Excellency Frederick Mitchell's 13 minutes speech at the UN Assembly on the 30th of September, 2014:


Official speech in written form: http://www.un.org/en/ga/69/meetings/gadebate/pdf/BS_en.pdf

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What is the prevailing Haitian opinion regarding this move on the part of the Bahamas? In other words, is the Haitian community satisfied, dissatisfied, or indifferent towards this?

Have any NGO's denounced the Bahamas for 'xenophobia' or 'racism' or any other label in international forums as a consequence of Mr. Mitchell's speech at the UN?

What does the DR1 community think about this?

Any additional thoughts?

The articles cited, and which says these measures are geared mostly towards Haitians, are not Dominican sources. In fact, almost every non-Dominican source that mentions Mr. Mitchell's speech say that its geared towards Haitian migrants because they are the vast majority.

The Star Tribune, a Minneapolis based newspaper, even includes the word Haitian in the title:

Bahamas imposes new immigration limits and considers additional measures aimed at Haitians

There is even a petition created in May 2014 by Bahamians with no input from a single Dominican (nor is this 'Dominicans projecting'):

Stop The Haitian Invasion of The Bahamas

Where are the petitions against other foreigners?

In August 2014, the Jamaican newspaper Jamaica Observer published this:

Bahamas denies stateless people from Haiti residing in the country

An interesting part of that article:

“As The Bahamas government understands the law of Haiti, the child of a Haitian born anywhere is Haitian at birth. This would mean therefore that the children of Haitian parents born in The Bahamas are not stateless and our law requires those persons to obtain a Haitian passport and a residence permit since at birth they are not Bahamian,” Mitchell said in a statement.

Click to expand...

Seems to me its the double standard at work again. :tired: