Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis spoke on the Smuggling Of Migrants Bill in the House Of Assembly on Monday.

Mr. Davis told Parliamentarians the bill is designed to send a strong message to persons who engage in illegal forms of migration. He also explained that the bill does not give migrants a new path to remain in the country.

Mr. Davis said, “it is not true nor was the ever the intention and we had been given legal guidance that that was the case. But we believed it important to amend the bill so as to remove any doubt whatsoever on that point.”

The bill also addresses non-refoulement or the prohibition of returning migrants to their countries under certain circumstances. Mr. Davis said Bahamian law enforcement already follow this moral and legal obligation.

According to the Prime Minister his administration has repatriated more than 13,000 people. He said, “by the middle of this year, the Minister of National Security was able to report that about the thirteen thousand I spoke about had been repatriated in less than four years. The record is there to show. At the same time, the number of detainees at Carmichael Road Detention Center has fallen dramatically at points with just a few dozen. And that is what happens when a government insists that all who are detained must be processed and returned quickly.”

Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Michael Pintard also spoke on the bill. During his contribution his voiced concern about those who pay to be illegally transported into the country. He said, “our difficulty is not with the section of the bill that criminalizes a smuggler, we support that. What we do not support is that the bill does not address the issue of the person who they say are a victim who is being smuggled. We say when you pay the smuggler who is to be criminalized you are seeking to, again, circumvent the laws of this country and you too are subject to punishment.”

The Smuggling Of Migrants Bill was tabled in October.