Saturday, December 24, 2011

ARTICLE - USCG - REPATRIATES 112 MIGRANTS

COAST GUARD REPATRIATES 112 HAITIAN MIGRANTS FOUND OFF THE BAHAMAS
(Orlando Sentinel) - By Danielle A. Alvarez

A U.S. Coast Guard crew has repatriated a group 112 Haitian migrants that were found on an overloaded vessel off the Bahamas earlier this week, authorities said.

The migrants were returned to Cap Haitien, Haiti, on Friday.

While conducting a routine patrol in the Caribbean Sea on Wednesday, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute discovered a sail freighter just west of Great Inagua, Bahamas. They found 87 men, 19 women and six children aboard the vessel, officials said.

Coast Guard crew members distributed life jackets to the group and moved them onto the Coast Guard cutter, where they received food, water and basic medical care.

"The Coast Guard strongly advises against taking to sea in an attempt to illegally enter the United States," said Capt. Brendan McPherson, 7th Coast Guard District chief of enforcement, in a press release. "Taking to sea in a grossly overloaded vessel with little or no safety gear needlessly places human lives at risk."

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