CHARLESTOWN, Nevis - THE captain of the vessel that brought the latest batch of Haitians to Nevis was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined.
Following an appearance at the Charlestown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday (Mar.15), Dominican national Danny Henry was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment for entering a port that is not a formal port; 12 months imprisonment for entering the Federation without the consent of an immigration officer; and he is required to pay EC$5,000 in six months on Customs charges or face an additional six-month imprisonment.
The arrival of Haitian migrants to the Federation is a wider systemic problem affecting the region due to the upheavals in the French-speaking country. A number of them have been arriving in the Bahamas up north to Guyana down South.
But the issue is a matter of human trafficking, as a number of Haitian migrants had previously indicated that they have been seeking to head to US territories such as the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.
However, the majority of boat captains - who are Dominicans - have sought to drop them off at the first sight of land, which is often St. Kitts and Nevis.
Fifteen individuals were taken into custody following a report made to the police about a boat coming ashore at Gallows Bay, Nevis.
The report was received at about 6:00 p.m. on February 03, 2023, which stated that two males came off a boat and were walking towards Bath Village.
Officers from the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the St. Kitts and Nevis Customs and Excise Department had found the men in that village.
In their press statement on the arrival of the migrants, police reported that the group arrived on a motor vessel that was anchored off the coast in the Gallows Bay area.
The men had made their way to the shore using a dinghy and the officers had accompanied them to the vessel where they found 13 Haitian nationals – 10 adults and three juveniles – onboard.
They were all detained by the police pending further investigations.
Police on February 6, had slapped Henry and Brisone Desir (a 25-year-old national of Haiti) with the offences of Illegal Entry at a Port that is not a Formal Port of Entry and Disembarking Without the Consent of an Immigration Officer.
At that time, both men had remained in police custody, but since then police have not provided any information on Desir.
