Barbados Says 30 Haitian Migrants Awaiting Visas Are Not Being Held Against Their Will

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Barbados government says it is satisfied that approximately 30 Haitians, who arrived here last month were not being held against their will or in substandard accommodation.

Haitians in an apartment in Barbados (Photo courtesy Barbados TODAY)The Ministry of Home Affairs and Information issued a statement following recent media reports regarding the presence of the Haitians on the island.

The statement said that the Haitians, who arrived here between February 20 and 25, this year “were granted the regular six months stay as visitors, as provided for under the Revised Treaty of Chaguramas, and in keeping with the Caribbean Community (Movement of Skilled Nationals)” adding in “that regard, they have not contravened the Immigration law”.

The statement said that Immigration Minister, Wilfred Abrahams, and a team from the Barbados Immigration Department, had on Tuesday visited the area where the Haitians were being held “to verify that they were not being held against their will or in substandard accommodation and are satisfied that this is not the case.

“The primary spokesperson for the Haitians, informed officials that they voluntarily came to Barbados en route to Guyana. The Minister informed them that his primary concern was their well-being and assured them that all efforts are being made to resolve the situation,” the statement said.

The on-line publication Barbados TODAY, which said it was present when Abrahams visited the Haitians, reported Wednesday that “more than a dozen Haitians, including young children, sat in a room on the second-floor apartment” as they were being quizzed about the circumstances under which they arrived here.

It said apart from the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) “no independent media organizations had been invited.

“In the basement, scores of young adults and children made way for Government officials to enter the apartment. It was unclear exactly how many bedrooms, bathrooms or kitchen spaces were made available to the nearly three dozen Haitians. There was one inflatable bed in what appeared to be the living area of the apartment, but no indication of where so many people would rest their heads at night,” the Barbados TODAY reported.

It said that there were no one-on-one interviews between state officials and the Haitian residents, except for a question from the Home Affairs Minister.

“Is anybody here being held against their will? All who are here came to Barbados voluntarily and you are leaving to go somewhere else voluntarily? Are you being forced to stay in Barbados or being kept in Barbados against your will?”

“No,” replied the young man who spoke English.

Last Friday, Barbados TODAY reported that the Haitians were awaiting visas to enter Guyana through a process involving an agency called MPH. The agency was paid an undisclosed sum to cover transportation costs, in-transit accommodation and visas.

On the MPH Travel Agency’s Facebook page were complaints in Haitian creole about people being stranded in Barbados and about having to pay more than was originally agreed for passage into Guyana. Concerns were also expressed about limited finances within the Haitian contingent, the Barbados TODAY reported.