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Friday, March 12, 2010 9:53 AM

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62 Haitian migrants detained

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Published On:Monday, February 08, 2010

By ALISON LOWE

Tribune Staff Reporter

alowe@tribunemedia.net

SIXTY-TWO Haitian migrants are being processed by Defence Force and Immigration Officers after their unseaworthy boat was found in waters in the Exuma chain on Saturday morning, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force reported.

A release from the RBDF yesterday afternoon said the migrants were detained after being spotted by a Defence Force vessel, HMBS P-45, which was on routine patrol about 13 nautical miles southwest of Barretarre, Exuma.

"Upon further investigation, they discovered the migrants (49 males, 13 females), who all appeared to be in fair health. The migrants were transferred from their unseaworthy vessel and taken aboard the Defence Force craft P-45 and 49 for further processing."

The migrants form the second large group of Haitians to be apprehended in Bahamian waters since the devastating January 12th earthquake struck Port-au-Prince. Officers reported that the majority of the more than 50 Haitians apprehended off Adelaide, New Providence, on January 25 said they had set off from Port-au-Prince.

Forty-nine from among that group were charged in Magistrate's Court with illegally landing in the country and sentenced to six months in prison, following Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's announcement that as a result of the earthquake repatriations from The Bahamas to Haiti would be suspended as the Haitian government was not in a position to accept them back into the country.

The origin of this latest group has not been released.

The statement from the force on Saturday's apprehension differs slightly from that provided by the Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, and Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest when asked earlier that day about the then unconfirmed reports that a new group of migrants had been detained on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference on the Elizabeth by-election Sunday afternoon, the Prime Minister stated: "There's a boat in our territorial waters that has not been apprehended but is in a contained position and we expect that boat to be returned to Haiti with its occupants."

Mr Turnquest later added that the boat had entered an inlet to escape rough seas.

"We have it in a protected area and are waiting for word to have them repatriated."

Mr Turnquest said he did not wish to release the location of the boat.

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Posted By: Sniper 1 On: 2/9/2010

Title: Corruption Sufaces In Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The United Nations has warned that it will cut off shipments of free medicine beginning immediately to any Haitian hospitals that it finds are charging patients.
When the catastrophic earthquake struck Jan. 12, authorities immediately decided to make all medical care free. More than 200 international medical relief groups have sent in teams to help, and millions of dollars of donated medicine has been flown in.
U.N. officials told The Associated Press that about a dozen hospitals — both public and private — have begun charging patients for medicine. The officials said they could not immediately provide the names of the hospitals but said they were in several parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince.
"The money is huge," said Christophe Rerat of the Pan American Health Organization, the U.N. health agency in the region. He said about $1 million worth of drugs have been sent from U.N. warehouses alone to Haitian hospitals in the past three weeks.
Hospitals don't need to charge patients to pay their staff, because Haitian Health Ministry employees are getting paid with donated money, Rerat added.
Haiti now has about 90 hospitals, including public and private hospitals and field hospitals set up in the quake's aftermath.
A member of the Haitian government commission created to deal with the medical crisis, Dr. Jean Hugues Henry, said he had no knowledge of any hospitals charging for services or medicine.
U.N. officials said beginning immediately, any hospital found levying fees for medicine will be cut off. But the U.N. would consider continuing to supply non-governmental groups working at private hospitals with drugs if those groups can make a convincing case that none of their patients are being charged

Posted By: Stanley Jackson Sr. On: 2/8/2010

Title:

CONGRATULATIONS Prime Minister Ingraham, Mr. Turnquest and Defence Force. We are pleased to know our borders are being properly protected. Again I stress that Bahamians DO NOT HATE HAITIANS. We are simply already over run by them & have been for decades. The Bahamas is a ver small Country and we cannot accomodate any more Haitians, Asians, Latinos, Africans and Chinese. There are already countless unemployed/underemployed Bahamians unable to sustain themselves and their families, moving from relative to relative and friend to friend, whole familes living in cars, families split up between family and friends etc. We are inundated with foregieners holding positions that suffering, unemployed Bahamians qualify for and must now concentrate on helping OUR OWN PEOPLE AT THIS TIME.

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