The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

TWO Haitian barbers with legal work permits say they are traumatised after being “slapped” and “beaten” by men dressed as immigration officers at their workplace this weekend.

Yesterday, The Tribune spoke with Gary Philius and Wilfort Senatés, two Haitian nationals who have legal work permits and have been working at Adam’s Barbershop in the Bacardi Road area.

Following the incident, Mr Philius said he and Mr Senatés went for a medical check-up and filed a complaint with the police.

“The business is still running, but we are not working. Because we had to go to the hospital and one of my eyes is bruised and I went today and did a police report. My head is hurting, one of my eyes is bruised and I cannot hear straight. At the hospital, the doctors gave me medicine,” Mr Philius said.

“How I feel about the situation, because I came from home and I am here in The Bahamas and I am legal, I have a work permit to work and I identified myself,” he said.

“They did not identify a second time when they came inside. They just came in and beat us for no reason. We didn’t talk to them bad, we didn’t insult them. We are not gangsters. We are not criminals. We have work permits and this was not fair, what happened yesterday,” Mr Philius said.

“Even if we weren’t living here legally, I don’t see what the reason is for us to get beaten. Then they put masks over their faces we couldn’t even identify who they were,” he said.

The men, said that on Saturday, around 11am, two men wearing immigration officer uniforms came into the barber shop to check the status of their work permits.

“This happened yesterday (Saturday) at 11am. We were outside at 11am yesterday and the immigration officers came to the barber shop and asked us (Mr Philius and Mr Senatés) for our documents. We gave them our documents and then they let us go. Then, we walked into the barber shop,” Mr Philius said.

He said the situation became physical after they all entered the barber shop.

Mr Philius said that as he was fixing something by one of the barber shop doors, the immigration officers walked in and then shortly after that one of the officers slapped Mr Senatés.

“The immigration officers walked in and called me and when they called me they gave Wilfort a slap and the next officer gave me a slap.

Mr Philius said the officers then asked the customers that were still in the barber shop to leave.

“They went back to the door and locked the door. I felt like if they wanted to kill us they could have killed us inside. He gave me another slap and I was tossed toward the wood in the barber shop,” Mr Philius said.

“I fly toward the chair and the wall and then they took us into the bus and carried us to the detention centre. When we got to the detention centre they made us get out of the bus and they still wanted to beat us there,” he said.

“They took Wilfort and tried to carry him to beat him again, but another officer saw and stopped it and after not being charged, we were let go,” Mr Philius said.

This incident comes after videos circulating on social media showing two men dressed as immigration officers entering a business establishment, asking the patrons to leave, locking the door and beating two of the men in the establishment, before unlocking the door for another alleged officer and going back outside.

In response to this, the Department of Immigration released a statement, saying: “The Department of Immigration is aware of a video circulating in the media depicting alleged immigration officers at a business establishment. We are actively investigating this matter and will provide you with information as soon as possible.”

Rudolph Ferguson, assistant director of Immigration, told The Tribune yesterday that while investigations into this incident are being done, the Department of Immigration holds a high standard for its officers to uphold when dealing with people.

“Right now, there is an ongoing investigation concerning the video that has been circulating. We cannot say conclusively yet,” Mr Ferguson said.

“I haven’t gotten any reports on it yet to determine whether in fact they are Immigration officials. So hopefully, by tomorrow, thereabouts we’ll have a better understanding on exactly what has happened and what transpired,” he said.

He added that immigration officers are held at a higher standard and should demonstrate respect to all persons, according to protocols when dealing with any person that may or may not be undocumented.

“We must always identify ourselves showing our immigration identification badge and we must treat people with the utmost respect. Certainly not abusing individuals for any reason, we’re held at a higher standard,” Mr Ferguson said.