The Department of Immigration carried out a repatriation exercise at the Lynden Pindling International Airport on Wednesday involving 62 Haitian nationals.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, the Hon. Darron Pickstock, was at the airport and said that exercise is part of the ministry’s efforts to strengthen enforcement. He said, “we have sixty two individuals traveling today, forty nine males, twelve females and one minor traveling back today. So that is the breakdown of the individuals being repatriated today and we are doing this is accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahama. And it’s very important for everyone to understand that they must comply with the laws of The Bahamas. So I’m just sending out a clarion call for all individuals who are in breach of our immigration law to take steps tor regularize their status or voluntarily leave the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

The Minister also addressed allegations by a detainee at the Carmichael Road Detention Center who claimed that he was mistreated at the facility by immigration officers. “The fine men and women of the immigration department, as you know, they work under very strenuous circumstances sometimes and while there have been allegations of a breach I want to assure the public that we are addressing and investigating any allegations of abuse. And there are mechanisms under our law to deal with anyone, any of our officers, who are in breach of the law,” Pickstock said.

He also made an appeal to the employers to ensure that their workers are regularized and that work permit applications are put in on time.