The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FOUR refugees at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre are questioning the lawfulness of their detention after being held without charge for more than two years.

One of the men has been in detention since 2013.

In separate cases, an Eritrean man and three Cuban men claim that they were never questioned by immigration officers during processing, and are in the process of resettlement with assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees.

UNHCR certificates for each man lists The Bahamas as the country of asylum and states: "As a refugee, he should be protected from forcible return to a country where he would face persecution. Any assistance accorded to the above-named individual would be greatly appreciated."

In separate affidavits, the men state that they have not been charged with any offences in their respective home country, or since their arrival to the country, and have not been brought before any court since their detention.

The affidavits submitted by the refugees also state that UNHCR's local representative Denish Moss-Balboni will assist with accommodations through the Red Cross if the men are released pending their resettlement to a third country.

Eritrea is a northeast African country that has been accused of widespread human rights violations stemming from its one-party state and limited freedoms of speech, press, assembly and association.

Diarra Lue Tawaldi, a 25-year-old Eritrean, entered the country on January 1, 2013 and has been in detention since his arrival, according to his affidavit.

Mr Tawaldi was registered as a refugee by UNHCR on May 13, 2016.

Yosvany Gonzalez Plunkett, a 40-year-old Cuban, came to The Bahamas on a work permit in 2010. He taught as a physics teacher at Abaco Central High from 2010 until his work permit expired in 2012, according to his affidavit.

Mr Plunkett said he remained in the Bahamas and was arrested in Bimini on June 22, 2015. He further stated that he was recognised as a refugee by UNHCR while in detention; however, his UNHCR certificate states that he was registered on June 19, 2013.

Cubans Yoiselandy Alfonso Martinez, 22, and Angel Luis Llorente Carrion, 23, left Cuba by boat on June 6, 2015, and were arrested on June 23, 2015, by the United States Coast Guard. Both men were sent to Grand Bahama and then detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre on June 24, 2015.

Mr Martinez and Mr Carrion were registered as refugees by UNHCR on May 13, 2016.

The applications for habeas corpus writs were filed in the Supreme Court against the attorney general, minister of immigration, director of immigration and officer-in-charge of the holding facility on June 13.

The men are represented by Martin Lundy, of Callenders & Co.