Large numbers of Cubans and Haitians arrive in the Bahamas

Keith Bell, the Bahamas’ Minister of Labor and Immigration, reported Wednesday that in 2022, the archipelago recorded a 343% increase in the number of Cubans intercepted on its coasts and a 51% increase in Haitians compared to 2021. “Immigration Department statistics show significant increases in the number of migrants intercepted over the last two years,” Bell told the Bahamas House Assembly. The minister emphasized the Bahamas’ migration challenges and urged people living illegally in the archipelago to leave the country immediately.

“In 2021, 226 Cubans were apprehended and returned to Cuba from The Bahamas. “By 2022, this number will have increased from nearly 800 to 1,001 Cubans,” he added. The Bahamas’ Labor and Immigration Minister stated that “records also reveal the same increase in irregular migrants from Haiti.” In 2021, 2,219 Haitians were repatriated, with an increase of more than 1,100 people in 2022, when 3,349 were repatriated.

Similarly, he stated that in 2021, the Immigration Department will have repatriated 4,748 migrants, including 12 Americans, 13 Venezuelans, 14 Brazilians, 26 Colombians, 58 Dominicans, 66 Ecuadorians, and 125 Jamaicans.