The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was deeply troubled with what it termed the on-going tragic trade in illegal migrants from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands , and will be working closely with the TCI to stem the illicit activities.
The matter was raised recently during a meeting with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and members of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on matters relating to the Turks and Caicos Islands . During the meeting the issue of illegal immigration was raised by members of both committees as to what step should be taken the stem the flow of the illegal human smuggling trade.
“We remain deeply concerned about the continuing tragic trade in illegal migrants from Haiti to the Turks and Caicos Islands , and we continue to work closely with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government on this issue on a number of fronts,” the statement said.
The statement noted that His Excellency Governor Richard Tauwhare has commissioned a comprehensive review of the TCI Police Marine Branch in an effort to interdict illegal immigrants arriving in TCI.
The recommendations from the review, according to the statement, call for significant increases in staff, equipment and training, noting that the key recommendation is to appoint a highly skilled and experienced new commander of the Branch, possibly from the UK , who will have responsibility for implementing the other recommendations.
The statement further noted that a priority recruitment process is underway and HMG has provided training for the Marine Branch for many years; the possibility of basing a new HMG-funded Regional Training Co-ordinator in the TCI, together with an inshore patrol boat, was also being considered.
The statement also stated that by judicious routing and in the absence of higher defence priorities, Atlantic Patrol Task (North) (a Royal Navy frigate and Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker) has managed to increase port visits to TCI over the past year.
Additionally, at the request of the TCI Police Marine Branch, specialists from the ships' crews have exceptionally provided training and use of their helicopters to work with the TCI police in finding illegal immigrants living in the bush. Although not a core defence responsibility, the ships' presence is perceived to have provided a temporary, but effective, deterrent to the would-be people traffickers.
The UK Government has acknowledged that the TCI Government will shortly be bringing forward revised immigration legislation which, amongst other things, should help to reduce the “pull” factor to TCI by more effectively implementing work permit regulations and clamping down on illegal working.
Through the Governor, the statement said, an on-going programme to build co-operation at both official and Ministerial level between the Turks and Caicos Islands Government and the Government of Haiti, declaring that plans to formalise the co-operation through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between both countries in May was forced to be postponed due to recent events in Haiti. The UK noted that it remains optimistic that this would be done soon.
“The MOU will focus on the need to improve the interdiction of illegal migrants and other areas of mutual interest including promoting trade, closer political co-operation and the sharing of intelligence on smuggling drugs and firearms from Haiti . Our Ambassador in Santo Domingo also raised this issue during a meeting with the Haitian Foreign Minister in January,” statement said.
The statement further noted that the Governor initiated a process to build further on the existing co-operation between the US , The Bahamas and TCI in combating drug trafficking and to extend this to cover illegal immigration. A tripartite group has been established which is working on improving real time co-operation between law enforcement agencies in all three countries. The US Ambassador is convening a further meeting in Nassau in May to take forwards this process, the statement noted.
