111 Haitian migrants arrested after trying to reach Bahamas

San Juan. A group of 111 Haitian migrants was detained while trying to reach the Bahamas in an overloaded boat, the authorities of the Atlantic archipelago reported Tuesday.

The migrants, 92 men, 14 women, and 5 children, were apprehended the day before 3 nautical miles off the area of Cayo Guinchos by officers of the Royal Bahamian Defense Force, according to a press release.

The Royal Bahamas Defense Force handed the Haitians over to Immigration officials for due process before arriving in the Bahamian capital, from where they will be repatriated.

Haiti is facing a socio-political and economic crisis marked by inflation, local currency depreciation, fuel shortages, and increased armed attacks by groups fighting for control of the territory.

Migration from this country, the poorest in the Americas, has been constant for years due to the growing deterioration of the economic, political, and security situation, as well as natural disasters, especially the 2010 earthquake.

The crisis in Haiti was further aggravated by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021.