Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has called out former President of the Chamber of Commerce Dionisio D’Aguilar for false claims about the Ministry of Immigration that was published in a recent article in a local daily.

After Mr. D’Aguilar, who is also a local businessman, publicly referred to treatment of immigrants as xenophobic, the minister has responded and said his reports are completely false.

He corrected Mr. D’Aguilar’s statements and clarified the procedures of his ministry.

“I am deeply concerned that people reading what he had to say might accept uncritically as truth that the policies of the Immigration Department and ministry in The Bahamas are xenophobic,” Mr. Mitchell said in a statement.

“Plainly and simply that is untrue. Mr. D’Aguilar should not assert that as truth and should stop giving the impression that the department’s policies, rules, regulations and procedures are in any way portraying a fear of foreigners or are biased in their applications. The procedures laid down in law and policies by The Bahamas government on immigration are broadly similar and not different from any other country in this hemisphere. The requirement for the grant of a work permit is first of all that there is no Bahamian available for the job. That fact must be certified by the Department of Labour. Exceptions are broadly exercised where an entity wishes to have a owner’s representative, where there is a franchise which requires special expertise or where the owner prefers to have a chosen chief financial officer.”

Mr. D’Aguilar spoke of the number of foreigners that get jobs before Bahamians have the opportunity to apply for them. He said the ministry quickly documents these foreigners, however, Minister Mitchell says, that is not so.

“Once the Department of Labour certifies that there is no Bahamian available for a job, the Department of Immigration will grant the permit, many times subject to the condition that the person must train a Bahamian,” he said.

“The rate of rejections of work permit applications is less than 5 per cent if that. I would be so bold as to say that no business can say that they have not been able to get the work permits they need to operate their business.”
Minister Mitchell chastised Mr. D’Aguilar for his comments that he says is an insult to the ministry and the country.

“While Mr. D’Aguilar’s hyperbole and exaggeration might be good for newspaper headlines, Mr. D’Aguilar should know that it is irresponsible in the extreme to portray his country in that light when everything that is available by evidence suggests that his version of the facts do not reflect reality.”