The Department of Immigration has taken note of a photo of migrants being held at Exuma that was circulated on social media sites on 26th and 27th December. The construction being given to this photo by those who are seeking to sabotage the policy of the Department is that somehow the migrants were being mistreated and being held in inhumane conditions. That is a false and malicious construction of events. The photo and comments appear designed to defame the Department.
The people in the photo were sitting on the back of a flatbed transport or trailer with an open end at the back of the trailer secured by a removable metal tailgate. The trailer was used to ferry the individuals from where they landed in Exuma to the holding facility the E C McKenzie auditorium in Ramsay, Exuma. The migrants were held at that auditorium overnight until they were transported by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force to Nassau. The journey from the landing point in Exuma would normally take thirty to forty minutes. At no time was any person under the care or supervision of the Department of Immigration kept in inhumane conditions.