The Ministry of Border Control and Employment Services hereby advises the public that at approximately 2:02 a.m today Monday July 31, 2017, an illegal migrant vessel carrying 99 Haitian nationals was intercepted in the vicinity of the Bluff off Providenciales.
The vessel, later confirmed to be a “sloop” and carrying 79 males and 20 females, was first detected by the Radar Station Unit of the Ministry, as a target of interest at 12:47 a.m, following which all response agencies including the Marine Branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and the Immigration Task Force were activated.
This latest attempt by illegal migrants to breach the borders of the Turks and Caicos Islands comes mere days after the Deputy Premier and Minister of Border Control and Employment Services, during his Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly on Wednesday July 26th, asserted his Government’s commitment to improving the protection of our borders and the implementation of new initiatives to address illegal migration and tighter controls on immigration processes moving forward. Highlighted in the Deputy Premier’s address was the fact the illegal migration threatens the lives and livelihood of our people and that persons found to be engaged in the trafficking of humans would be prosecuted under the law as his Government will not sit idly by and allow activities of this nature to threaten the very existence of our people.
The 99 illegal migrants are currently detained and will be processed for repatriation and entry on the Immigration Stop List. This measure nullifies any opportunity for future grant of entry into the TCI for these individuals.
The Ministry of Border Control and Employment Services hereby extends its profound gratitude to persons in the community who have assisted with this and other operations and initiatives, your contribution and support remains invaluable and critical to our success.
Investigations are ongoing by the Ministry and will continue until the eventual arrest of persons suspected of engaging in the trafficking of humans into the TCI. Any person with information that can assist the Police or Immigration Department in our efforts to eradicate human trafficking are encouraged to share that information with the said agencies or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
As a matter of caution, the Ministry of Border Control and Employment Services takes this opportunity to advise all persons to observe the immigration laws and of the Turks and Caicos Islands as anyone found in breach of same will be dealt with accordingly.
