Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell said that he isn’t worried about the United States’ latest advisory to its citizens over crime in The Bahamas.

The minister said yesterday that it is the country’s right to warn its people about the conditions in another country when its citizens are travelling there.

He said it is the same as if he were to issue a statement warning Bahamians when travelling to certain areas in the US.

“If you ask me, I can do the same report about Miami or Chicago,” he said.

“Anybody who goes to a country should be advised about the state of that country when they go. I’m careful in Miami, I’m careful in New York and I’m careful in Chicago. I don’t condemn the US because certain parts of New York happen to be dangerous places to go. I just don’t go to those places.”

Mr. Mitchell said Bahamians are victims of crimes in the US several times a year, but that there is no need to raise the red flag and cause problems between the two countries because of it.

“Particularly around Christmas time I’m sure we get three, four or five cases of people either being bumped on the highway and people breaking into cars in parking lots and shopping centres in Miami,” he said.

“So this kind of stuff happens with sufficient frequency for people to be calling me in the night because they need passports issued on an emergency basis because they’ve been stolen in Florida. That’s the way I look at this. I don’t want anybody to be harmed coming to this country. But you’ve got to see things in context.”

Mr. Mitchell said he believes The Bahamas’ tourism industry will continue to thrive despite US advisories of this type.