The 12 November Tribune article “TRAMPLING ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE BAHAMAS” by Adrian Gibson made a materially incorrect statement regarding the Bahamas Department of Immigration’s handling of Cuban-born Lazaro Seara Marin and Carlos Pupo Mendoza. They were detained by the Department of Immigration as of 20 March, 2013 and 16 May 2013 respectively for violating the Immigration Laws of The Bahamas.
The article states that because the Department of Immigration refused to allow them to leave the Bahamas “one or both of the men have lost their residency status in the US” as a result of their lengthy detention without charge. That assertion is false.
The facts as we know them are as follows:
Both men are lawfully detained at The Bahamas Corrections Department. Attempts to repatriate them to the United States, their country of last residence, were refused by U.S. authorities. The authorities in Cuba, the country of their origin, have also refused to accept them. Efforts to find a third country to accept them have been unsuccessful. The Department is continuing to work on this repatriation in the best interests of the national security of our country.
It has been determined that prima facie they do not have a claim for asylum in The Bahamas. To our knowledge they have not in fact asserted such a claim.
