Official data shows that the Commonwealth of the Bahamas detained 623 irregular Cuban migrants last year. The number is significantly higher than last year. In 2021, just 17 rafters were intercepted or arrested after landing on Bahamian land.
The issue was raised by Raymond King, Commodore of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF). “The number of Cuban immigrants intercepted so far has increased significantly over the past two months.”
The arrests are related to boats or raftsmen stopping on the Bahamas coast in their eagerness to reach the United States. In many cases they get lost and touch or cross Commonwealth waters.
The number of more than 600 arrests was growing over the past year, especially in the last quarter of 2022. Every week there were arrests at sea, others were made on land as soon as the Cuban migrants arrived.
So far in 2023, history is repeating itself
It is a fact that with new immigration measures and everything that has been enacted by the Biden administration, Cuban rafters continue to try their luck by jumping into the sea. So much so that the RBDF has already intercepted 61 migrants from the island in the first half of January.
The Commodore mentioned above confirms that most of the rafters come from the central region of Cuba. They generally depart from Ciego de Ávila, the closest area to the Bahamas.
The people of Ciego de Avila conduct multiple illegal exits a day, getting lost and navigating Bahamian waters en route to the United States. Their Coast Guard automatically detains them and takes them to a safe haven for their subsequent medical care and deportation.
Incidentally, last Sunday the Bahamian authorities arrested nine raftsmen who had been helped by fishermen from that country. The rustic boat they were traveling in collapsed and ran aground in the sea off the Bahamas coast.