On Tuesday, January 1 around 1 am, Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) officers intercepted 16 illegal Haitian migrants on the coast east of South Beach.

The RBDF, the police and immigration officers later found a wooden boat in shallow water about a quarter of a mile off the coast. The authorities said they did not know at the moment how many migrants were initially on the boat, saying that searches for other possible illegal Haitian migrants were continuing in the area.

Note that this is the second group of Haitian migrants intercepted by the RBDF in less than a week, after the arrest of 124 illegal Haitian migrants (107 men and 17 women) on December 30, 2018 in a 20-foot sailboat sailing, about twenty kilometers south of New Providence. These illegal migrants were handed over to the immigration officials for questioning. The majority of them, with the exception of minors are now waiting for their repatriation to Haiti.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23953-haiti-bahamas-89-haitian-boat-people-intercepted-southwest-of-eleuthera.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23661-haiti-politic-fruitful-conversation-between-president-moise-and-the-prime-minister-of-the-bahamas.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23364-haiti-bahamas-70-haitian-boat-people-intercepted-off-long-island.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23141-haiti-bahamas-76-haitian-boat-people-intercepted-at-sea.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-23124-icihaiti-bahamas-114-haitians-repatriated-at-the-cost-of-$40-000.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23112-haiti-social-interception-of-87-haitian-migrants-off-the-bahamas.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22417-haiti-flash-tens-of-thousands-of-haitians-threatened-with-deportation-in-the-bahamas.html

SL/ HaitiLibre