The Tribune

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

The government is being taken to court over the illegal detention of foreigners at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

It’s the same old song we’ve heard many times. This time, if there’s any blessing, it is that the case hasn’t taken years to come to court – the four Chinese nationals involved in this case were arrested last month on a boat in Bimini.

The quartet includes a 14-year-old, and arrived in The Bahamas on December 20 last year, and were lawfully admitted into the country. Going home, however, proved a problem, because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Reportedly, they tried to extend their stay but were frustrated in communicating this to the Department of Immigration.

One other difference in this case is that at least they faced a Magistrate’s Court – where the magistrate fined them and recommended their deportation. The fine was paid – but the four are still locked up. Offers for their travel out of the country have been made – but here they remain.

When will we learn in these cases? And what are we gaining by keeping them locked up when the family is doing all it can to make arrangements to leave? If they have a way to leave, why don’t we let them? Do we want to keep paying for their detention instead of letting them leave the country?

And how many times must we see cases with claims of illegal detention being brought. We’ve seen it too often – with people locked up for years without charge and without conviction. These people at least had their day in court – but they weren’t given a sentence of imprisonment, so why are they still locked up?

If they are supposed to be deported, we should do all we can to expedite that. If the family has a way for that to happen, we should help that to happen instead of leaving these four languishing behind bars – including a child.

The writ filed by Fred Smith in this case seeks to compel the government to explain why the four are being kept at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. We eagerly await that explanation.

Keep guard

“I think a lot of us have become relaxed.”

Those are the words of Hope Town councilor Jeremy Sweeting, who cited COVID fatigue as one of the reasons why there has been a sudden spike of cases in Abaco.

A total of 53 people presented themselves for testing on Wednesday, with 15 already testing positive and other results pending. These were rapid antigen tests and the government’s PCR test may show slightly different numbers but the outcome is clear – a sudden spike that has raised concern.

Mr Sweeting’s words are frank and honest. He said: “I think being with the country opened back up and everything, I think that a lot of us have become relaxed because it’s basically COVID fatigue and everybody is guilty of that to a certain extent, myself included, but we have to try not to allow our guards down and keep our guard up and continue to carry out all of the protocols because this is no time to let our guards down.”

We respect Mr Sweeting for that assessment – and it should be a lesson to us all. The pandemic is far from over, and just because you can’t see the virus doesn’t mean it isn’t still out there, circulating.

We hope Mr Sweeting’s advice rings loudly around Abaco, but we hope it is also heeded farther afield.

“This is no time to let our guards down.”

Mr Sweeting is right. Make sure you keep your guard up – and that your family does the same.