Friday, December 30, 2011

ARTICLE - 117 DETAINED AT TURKS & CAICOS

117 FLEEING HAITI BY BOAT DETAINED IN TURKS & CAICOS

FRENCH CAY, Turks and Caicos - Officials in Turks and Caicos have intercepted a boat carrying 117 migrants from Haiti, making this the fourth boat in about a week to be found.

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police apprehended the boat carrying 90 males, 21 females and six female children at 3:30 PM on December 28, 2011. The passengers were brought ashore and will be detained, processed and repatriated as appropriate.

This is only the latest of a wave of hundreds of Haitians leaving Haiti.

On Wednesday, December 21st, the U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 112 Haitians aboard a "grossly overloaded vessel with little or no safety gear," said U.S. Coast Guard Captain, Brendan McPherson.

The Cuban Coast Guard on Saturday, December 24th, found up to 50 bodies and 87 other individuals who were aboard a boat that ran aground carrying more than 135.

On December 25th, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force interecepted a boat carrying 244 migrants from Haiti.

President Michel Martelly asked Haitians on Sunday December 25 to not to risk their lives traveling on the high seas.

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