Friday July 21, the Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) rescued 88 Haitian migrants Friday off Little Inagua, Bahamas.

A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, deployed to Great Inagua, located the Haitian migrants on the island and received a request to assist by the Bahamian government. The helicopter crew embarked 15 migrants for medical concerns and transported them to Matthew Town for further medical care.

For its part the RBDF deployed a marine-asset crew to embark the remaining individuals off Little Inagua for transport to Great Inagua.

Let's recall that the Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency and RBDF maintain a 24/7 presence on the island in support of OPBAT – a tri-country agreement between the U.S., Turks and Caicos and U.K. governments to combat drug smuggling to and from the U.S., Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.

SL/ HaitiLibre