Thursday, 6 weeks after the devastating passage of Hurricane Dorian Category 5 which destroyed 85% of the island of Abaco, where lived more than 3,000 Haitians in 6 slums: Sand Banks, Farm Road, L and H at Treasure Cay, The Mudd, Pigeon Peas and Elbow Cay https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28904-haiti-flash-after-the-passage-of-dorian-the-haitians-without-paper-in-the-bahamas-risk-the-expulsion.html , 112 Haitian migrants in irregular migratory situation were deported...

Outside of New Providence Island, the largest archipelago in the Bahamas, where in 2018 the International Organization for Migration, estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 illegal Haitians lived, Abaco is the second largest island with the largest Haitian community.

Residents of Marsh Harbor on the island of Abaco (3rd largest city in the Bahamas) who survived the hurricane were asked to evacuate to shelters on New Providence Island. Note that the approximately 2000 victims who had taken refuge in Abaco shelters were largely Haitian or of Haitian descent.

Recall that last September 30 Elsworth Johnson, the Bahamas Immigration Minister warned that foreigners in irregular or undocumented migration situations risked being deported to their country of origin, noting that shelters used after the Hurricane Dorian can not be used to circumvent the law https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28904-haiti-flash-after-the-passage-of-dorian-the-haitians-without-paper-in-the-bahamas-risk-the-expulsion.html

On 2 October in the Parliament, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Minnis, left no doubt about the expulsion measures, declaring to immigrants in irregular migratory situation on the territory of the archipelago, mostly Haitians "We are a country of laws and our rules regarding illegal immigrants will be respected. However, they will be carried out in a humane way [...] Therefore, all immigrants in an irregular migration situation must leave of their own or they will be forced to do so." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28906-haiti-flash-the-bahamas-ask-the-haitian-illegal-to-leave-the-archipelago-of-will-or-force.html

Recall that faced with the risk of expulsion of thousands of Haitians without due process (a practice very common in the Bahamas), Bocchit Edmond, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sent a diplomatic note on October 2 to his counterpart Darren Henfield, asking for a a sort of moratorium on the repatriation process, stressing that "it is possible that hundreds of Haitians living legally in the Bahamas, find themselves expelled in Haiti because all their documents have been lost" https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28904-haiti-flash-after-the-passage-of-dorian-the-haitians-without-paper-in-the-bahamas-risk-the-expulsion.html

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28906-haiti-flash-the-bahamas-ask-the-haitian-illegal-to-leave-the-archipelago-of-will-or-force.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28904-haiti-flash-after-the-passage-of-dorian-the-haitians-without-paper-in-the-bahamas-risk-the-expulsion.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28809-haiti-flash-the-government-recognizes-not-having-the-ressources-to-help-the-haitian-victims-in-the-bahamas.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28767-haiti-flash-bahamas-more-than-300-haitians-missing-after-the-passage-of-dorian.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28703-haiti-flash-the-record-of-dorian-likely-to-be-very-heavy-in-the-haitian-community-in-the-bahamas.html

SL/ HaitiLibre