FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rhenie Dalger
Phone: 786-280-9062
Email: rdalger@fanm.org
FANM Condemns Bahamas’ Decision to Deport Immigrants Living in Shelters
WHAT: Bahamas Hurricane Survivors, Faith and Community Leaders Urge the Bahamas Government to not Deport Immigrants Living in Shelters
WHEN: Thursday, October 3, 2019, at 11:00 a.m.
WHO: Bahamas Hurricane Survivors, Faith and Community Leaders
WHERE: Family Action Network Movement (FANM) office, 100 N.E. 84 Street, Suite 150, Miami, Florida 33138
FANM Condemns Bahamas’ Decision to Deport Immigrants Living in Shelters
The Bahamas government says it will deport undocumented migrants who survived the passage of Hurricane Dorian on September 1 and are now living in shelters.
Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of Family Action Network Movement said,
“It is unconscionable for the Bahamas to deport undocumented immigrants after they've gone through such traumatic experiences. It is inhumane to deport to Haiti which is going through one of the worst political crises in its history, with grave human rights abuses, arbitrary killings, and massacres.”
Bahamas Immigration Minister, Elsworth Johnson, told the Nassau Guardian Newspaper that the shelters will not be used “to circumvent the law.” He added, “If you're in a shelter and you're undocumented and you're not here in the right way, you're still subject to deportation and the enforcement of the immigration laws.”
The Category 5 storm destroyed thousands of homes on Great Abaco and Grand Bahama, and was the strongest hurricane on modern record to hit the Bahamas. The damage, now coming into view, appears calamitous.
At least 53 people are dead and more than 1,300 still missing—many likely swept to their deaths. The storm affected some 75,000 residents, many of whom were evacuated.
Family Action Network Movement (FANM) formerly known as Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc)/ Haitian Women of Miami is a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to the social, economic, financial and political empowerment of low to moderate-income families….to give them the tools to transform their communities.
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