STATEMENT BY THE HON. FREDERICK MITCHELL

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND IMMIGRATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

28TH SESSION OF THE HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT OF

THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

2 5 MARCH, 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Mr. President,

Mr. High Commissioner for Human Rights,

Honourable Ministers,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have the distinct honour to address you in what I

believe, is the first opportunity for a Foreign Minister of The

Bahamas to participate in a High Level Segment of the

Human Rights Council outside of the Universal Periodic

Review.

Mr. President,

During an address to the General Assembly last year, I said

there are three areas of priority to which the Bahamas

Government will give attention, that of illegal immigration

into The Bahamas, climate change and fighting crime. I

am happy to see that these priorities are to be addressed in

some form during this session of the Council. At the

Annual Summit of the CELAC leaders in San Jose, Costa

Rica, the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Perry

Christie expressed the wish for a focused and candid

discussion on migration. He added that all countries

should work together to arrest irregular migration and

explore modalities for orderly and safe migration.

Mr. President,

The Bahamas appreciates that migration is a necessary

phenomenon which forces people to move from one place to

another, in search of political stability or in pursuit of

improved economic conditions. There are also those who,

due to environmental hazards, are compelled to relocate.

The Bahamas maintains that migration for whatever

reason is a natural state of mankind, however, that

movement should be documented to ensure the safety and

security of the nation state. For my country, the

Government is resolute in its task to ensure orderly

migration and prevent irregular migration.

The Government therefore, has taken steps that require

that all persons working in The Bahamas have a valid work

permit authorizing him or her to reside and work in the

country. This action is not unique to The Bahamas but to

all other countries. The Government further, requires that

persons who reside in The Bahamas must be in possession

of proof of residency.

Mr. President,

In a spirit of transparency and cooperation, The Bahamas

in September, 2014 signed a Memorandum of

Understanding with the International Organization for

Migration (IOM), with a view to strengthening migration

management and identifying appropriate measures to

assist and protect vulnerable migrants. This was further

reinforced during the visit to The Bahamas by the Deputy

Director General of the IOM, who reiterated IOMs support

for regional cooperation to combat irregular migration and

smuggling. The Bahamas takes this opportunity to express

its appreciation to the IOM for its continued support in this

critical area.

Mr. President,

On a related issue, the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in

Persons, especially women and children, visited The

Bahamas in December, 2013 and presented her report to

the Council in June, 2014. The report highlighted a

number of deficiencies in The Bahamas with respect to

trafficking in persons. The Bahamas, in its response to the

Council reiterated the Governments commitment to

addressing the concerns articulated in the report and has

put in place a multi-sectoral mechanism to combat this

crime, particularly with regard to the identification and

prosecution of perpetrators and the registering and

protection of victims.

Our country is a most welcoming country. After all

tourism is our main business. It therefore concerns our

government and people when we see reports which vilify

the country and portray just the opposite impression often

without context or notice. Sometimes there is a sense of a

doctrine of " gotcha" in the international arena, instead of

one which seeks to work constructively with us to identify

the issues and solve any problems. It seems that often

some think the worse of you rather than seeing the good

intentions that may sometimes fall short but to which

shortfalls (if any) our country is always dedicated to

correcting.

We recently put in place new administrative measures on

immigration meant to protect our national identity and our

national security. Many adverse comments were made

about the policies, some of them portraying migrants as

victims of a policy which is designed for their welfare as the

opposite of what it is. The public should take note of

reports that the trips that migrants pay to smuggle their

way into The Bahamas and onward can range in price from

1500 dollars to 5000 dollars US. This means that the new

policies are blocking a sophisticated criminal enterprise.

Those who oppose the new measures by fair means or foul

should be careful that they are not unwittingly running

interference for these criminal enterprises which must be

stopped. The opponents of the policy risk undermining

their credibility and there is a backlash of resentment over

these assertions which seem designed to sully the country

without proper context.

Mr. President,

The issue of climate change is of grave importance to The

Bahamas, which as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS)

is most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change,

especially since some 80% of the country is within 1.5

meters of sea level. As a country heavily dependent upon

tourism and financial services, addressing climate change

is therefore, central to our economic survivability. The

concern for SIDS and other Least Developed Countries

(LDCs) remains that of inadequate financing to assist in the

mitigation of the negative impacts of climate change. We

are hopeful that the outcome of COP-21 scheduled for

December of this year, would address this concern

satisfactorily, through a legally binding arrangement

applicable to all states. The Bahamas remains actively

involved in the process leading up to COP 21 to be held in

Paris in December of this year.

We take this opportunity to congratulate the Council for

the full day of discussions on human rights and climate

change, which will take place later this week and we

anticipate a fruitful outcome, as renewed attention is given

to those who suffer from the ravages of devastating climatic

activities worldwide.

The point I wish to reinforce for The Bahamas is that

climate change is existential, not theoretical. The time to

act is now.

Mr. President,

The Bahamas, like many other countries, continues to

grapple with a high crime rate. The Government has

pledged to do more to fight crime. In September of last

year, The Bahamas deposited its instrument of ratification

for the Arms Trade Treaty, becoming one of 50 countries to

ratify the Treaty, allowing it to enter into force in December

last year. The Bahamas considers this a significant step in

the fight against the illegal drug trade and in trafficking in

persons, throughout the Latin America and Caribbean

region. This collective approach should lead to stricter gun

control and will further serve to enhance our national

efforts in the fight against crime.

It is important to say that those countries who produce the

guns must do more to stop the flow of the weapons to our

shores. It is not enough to say the constitution or law does

not permit the interference in the illegal flow of weapons. It

is important to recognise that millions from the developed

world work and visit our shores each year and they and we

want them to have a safe and enjoyable time in an open

atmosphere. We are dedicated to protecting that fact but

so must the developed world. One of the ways they can

help is by stopping the flow of illegal weapons to our

shores.

Mr. President,

All of us here today, have been tasked with protecting the

interests of the people we represent. This requires a

determined investment in democratic processes which

would permit all people to exist in a world with dignity and

integrity. We, the peoples of the United Nations collectively,

should seek to uphold the principles of universal respect

for mankind and fundamental freedoms, irrespective of

political strength or economic status. The Bahamas

recommits itself to these collective ideals for the good of all

people.

Bahamas Permanent Mission

Geneva