The latest criticism has come from FMN Senator Carl Bethel in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Mr Bethel says he believes the government is not taking the issue seriously enough, pointing to the recent Haitian roundups as “campaign tactics” for the forthcoming election.
“They only want you to believe because it is election time that they are serious about catching illegal immigrants in this country.” He said the present government is one of secrecy and great hypocrisy. “They say one thing and do another.”
Mr Bethel made these statements while commenting on the fact that no investigations have been launched into the alleged visa distribution scandal at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “When the FNM left it was only about a hundred or so a year, but by the time the PLP was in their second year it was two thousand a year.”
He said that there has been no explanation by the government or investigation into the allegations of these visas being sold.
He also said that issues such as this one speak loudly and clearly about the present government.
“On one hand they want to make you believe they are serious about catching illegal immigrants because it is close to election time, and on the other hand when elections were not near they were giving out visas like candy, and that’s the sad reality.”
During the Free National Movement Convention in November 2005 the allegations were made that a number of non-immigration visas were issued to Haitian and Chinese nationals.
Mr Bethel at that time disclosed that the number of Visas issued to Haitian nationals grew from 102 in 2002 to more than 2,200 in 2004.
According to confidential material released to him anonymously in September 2005, records from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that the number of non-immigrant visas issued to Chinese nationals also quadrupled since 2002.
“We indicated with great concern that persons were being issued with visas irregularly, with incomplete and/or unsigned application forms, or without photo-graphs of the applicant; that there appeared to be political involvement at the highest levels of the Christie government and that PLP MPs, political cronies and family members appeared to have sponsored repeated batches or groups of Haitian and Chinese visitors for visas,” he revealed.
He claimed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs never addressed the allegations or treated them with serious concern.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell, sought to dismiss the allegations in a series of press statements without ever answering any of the very serious questions that have been raised,” he said.
Mr. Bethel said after his speech at the Convention, Mr. Mitchell told the media that he had “no involvement in the issuance of visas and that it was the responsibility of the Permanent Secretary”.
The matter was dealt with discreetly, Mr. Bethel said, “in the hope that the government would deal with this matter in a serious and responsible manner, rather than trying to shirk their political responsibility.”
Police officials have not yet given an update on investigations into the matter.
By: VIRAJ PERPALL, The Nassau Guardian
