WHEN The Bahamas makes international news, the spotlight is seldom kind.
You may recall the headlines when the FTX scandal broke – or our nation’s connection to the company whose submersible imploded as it descended to explore the wreck of the Titanic.
Historically, of course, the Miami Herald’s famous exposé A Nation For Sale exposed corruption and drug trafficking in The Bahamas.
Yesterday, the Washington Post turned its spotlight on the issue of human smuggling in The Bahamas. In a lengthy report, headlined Dreams And Deadly Seas, reporters examined the issue as it affects The Bahamas, and more pointedly as it affects those who are smuggled and those who do the smuggling.
Many of the points in the article will be familiar to Tribune readers – starting with the incident in July last year in which at least 17 Haitians died when a boat set off from the Sand Trap area near Arawak Cay but overturned in rough seas.
The report goes on to look at all parts of the issue of human smuggling – from speaking to anonymous individuals who say they are smugglers and who talk of the money that can be made in the illegal activity, through to a relative of one of the victims of that Sand Trap voyage.
As far as our local knowledge of these affairs goes, it covers ground we largely already know. But for an international audience, this may well be new – and shocking.
Most challenging for The Bahamas is the general feeling throughout the story that people know what’s going on – and no one is interested in stopping it.
The story suggests that everyone in Bimini knows what is going on in terms of human smuggling – taking the word of a smuggler that “everybody’s in on it”.
That smuggler suggests there are 15 others like him on Bimini alone, and that he could make upwards of $30,000 a trip carrying people illegally.
Meanwhile, advocate Louby Georges suggests that the government and the people of The Bahamas do a good job of hiding human smuggling.
There are things that cannot be denied. Human smuggling occurs on a regular basis in our country.
We often hear talk of boats full of people coming from Haiti – well, those boats are smuggling people who pay large amounts for that journey.
What we do not see as much of is people being brought before the court in an effort to squash that practice.
Beyond human smuggling, we also often hear of human trafficking. We have heard of people being trafficked for example by being brought into the country to act as sex workers or for forced labour or to work as maids or housekeepers.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists warning signs to watch out for, such as people not being in control of their own documents such as passports and ID cards or being paid very little if at all for their work. They may never appear alone or seem limited in their ability to move around.
Beyond that, details such as how they got into the country may be hard to come by – and there may be questions about the legitimacy of any permits they do have to be here, while overstaying may be commonplace.
As we find ourselves currently in the middle of a row in which a number of workers were detained and only three had identification, and with mixed reports from the Ministry of Immigration whether they were here legally or not, it is worth asking the question that if these workers were legal and still had such identification problems, then how can we tell the difference from the paperwork of those who are not here legally?
If things are such a mess, how do we tell who is genuine?
Human smuggling is a pervasive crime in our society – one which has victims, witnessed too often when people die at sea most notably, but that doesn’t even take into account the victims who pay smugglers money and then find themselves abandoned and out of pocket.
Those who conduct such operations should not be accepted in our society. If as that criminal claims, everyone knows about it – then everyone should speak up. That includes those who complain about migrant numbers – because that is how people get here very often. It includes those who want to stop people being exploited for sex or labour. It includes those who just want to ensure people are treated well instead of being crammed on a boat that might be large enough for the number of people on board – or it might not.
This article does shine a spotlight on the problem that exists in our society. The question is, when it talks about smuggling being a routine part of Bahamas life, is it correct? Do we laud and hail these criminals – or do we treat them as they are, and find and bring them to court?
We shall see how – or if – our leaders respond to this moment in the spotlight.
Comments
ThisIsOurs 9 months, 3 weeks ago
"Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists warning signs to watch out for, such as people not being in control of their own documents such as passports and ID cards or being paid very little if at all for their work. They may never appear alone or seem limited in their ability to move around"
We run a stupid nation.
And we put the dots together much too late.
When the news report came out that 62 Chinese nationals didnt have ID documents that was odd by itself. The next day when it was reported that the employer claimed to have their documents, my brain went WHAT????. I thought I'd misunderstood, couldnt be, then I heard it repeated on another news segment. And then to find out that the minister of Immigration having received a report of the apprehension of said individuals, alledges that he had a conversation with the Deputy Prime Minister who was at the time Acting Prime Minister who'd in turn had a conversation with the employer(!!!) and had agreed to release said individuals back into the custody of the employer with no attempt to determine who they were.
What is this fake nation of crime facilitation?? Let's change the name of the honourable House to the House of Ill Repute
ThisIsOurs 9 months, 3 weeks ago
My comment from July 26, posted when I heard someone explain that thsre might be an explanation for why an employer might have an immigrant's ID documents
"No no no, an employer cannot hold the identity documents of an immigrant worker. You are setting up a classic slave labour environment. Because now you in a strange land and you cant leave. And either Bell or Cooper allegedly facilitated this???
Can a citizenry go to the world court?
ThisIsOurs 9 months, 3 weeks ago
A day before on Jul 25: "About 2 months ago after hearing Chinese immigrant after Chinese immigrant caught in smuggling operations to the US, the question I asked here was, "were any of those persons employed at the Pointe?" If Haitian nationals are rumoured to pay 2000 per trip what would a Chinese national pay? And how many years would they be indentured to pay off the debt? Another thing that disturbs me about the Chinese workers is how invisible they are. Recall almost a decade ago when Chinese construction workers staged a protest about how badly they were being treated? We never heard another thing about it. Who knows what happened to them. Wasnt it also reported that the employer had their identity documents? "IF" thats the case, its a classic trafficking scenario...."
empathy 9 months, 3 weeks ago
It boggles my mind that our authorities can apprehend a boat filled with “illegal migrants”, but can NEVER identify the ‘smugglers’???!🤷🏽♂️
When we truly value human life and decide to treat people fairly utilizing a sense of right from wrong then maybe we’ll take human trafficking seriously! It won’t matter who benefits or how high up their social status is…treating others like we’d want our loved ones treated is a universal truth.
ThisIsOurs 9 months, 3 weeks ago
Somebody buying alot of shingles. I sorry for them if the FBI on the case. For this story to hit the Washington post gigantic alarm bells have been raised
SP 9 months, 3 weeks ago
You cannot "identify" anything you are a part of!
SP 9 months, 3 weeks ago
Louby Georges is right as he and every Haitian including ALL of our politicians of Haitian descent, know the inner working of the human smuggling network between the Bahamas and Haiti!
The U.S. State Department knows it is absolutely impossible for a tiny country like the Bahamas to have a 50-year ongoing billion-dollar human-smuggling operation and the government not have any evidence of who is involved.
When the UN finally resolves the situation in Haiti, it will be easy for them to also discover the smuggling links between Haiti and the Bahamas.
sheeprunner12 9 months, 3 weeks ago
Bahamian smugglers have been engaged in trafficking Haitians since the 1790s during their escape to Louisiana.
Just a different place & time.
The world has just changed in its stance to human trafficking. The white people trafficked millions of Negroes to America for over 350 years. Now they are crying crocodile tears about the modern slave trade that is probably more widespread than 200 years ago.
stillwaters 9 months, 3 weeks ago
This has nothing to do with white people. That s is black people trafficking other black people, Chinese people, Mexican people,Cuban people, and Haitian people. And getting away with it for decades
DiverBelow 9 months, 3 weeks ago
Tax the smuggler They will pay. Oh, They Already Do! Who is holding the money?
carltonr61 9 months, 3 weeks ago
A smuggled person pays his way to cross borders in search of best personal economic opportunities. A trafficked person is lured toward a promised better life from their current situation. The above is correct for Human Trafficking as relates entrapment for labor, sex, prostitution, but never the intent. The trafficked person, though under abuse, is often afraid of Immigration procedures unless critically abused. The trafficker makes himself the absolute authority, and I'd the person is young and female feels beholden for food, money and security and is reluctant to seek help or forcibly returned to a worst condition. The trafficker is most often a local or with legal status and never fulfills promises of absolute freedom. Human Trafficking is too difficult to maintain in,The Bahamas because bordered can only be crossed by sea. A trafficked person would often cross borders without the traffickers knowledge or with identification which is always held by the trafficker.
carltonr61 9 months, 3 weeks ago
As long as The USA makes it easy for smuggled persons to assimilate into its society, economy and politics 100% the Bahamas will remain a transit point toward USA destination. We are wasting our money and time here as Canada is even more welcoming to economic refugees. We are back to the cocsinw trade mentality, Bahamas bring neither the supply point of nationality nor demand point. The USA cannot protect assimilation by Chinese, South American, or Haitian ongo to fabric of its society. We can do absolutely nothing protesting persons of the world en route to the land of milk and honey.
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