This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NASSAU 002369 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PRM/PRP SDENTZEL AND PRM/ECA KPERKINS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHSA SMIG PHUM CU HA BF
SUBJECT: MIXED MIGRATION FLOWS: IOM/UNHCR CONFERENCE IN 
BAHAMAS 
 
REF: A. NASSAU 1936 
     ¶B. NASSAU 2336 
 
SUMMARY 
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¶1.  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and 
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) 
co-hosted the second annual regional seminar in Nassau, The 
Bahamas on November 8-12, 2004.    Entitled "Contingency 
Planning for Mixed Migratory Flows in the Caribbean: 
Effective Practices and Tools for the Future", the conference 
touched on migration issues such as contingency planning, 
registration of migrants, medical screening, and refugee 
status determination as they pertain to the region.  Perhaps 
the biggest accomplishment of the seminar was to have most 
country representatives express not only the desirability but 
also the urgency to have contingency plans for mass migration 
in place.  End Summary 
 
Mass Migration Plans 
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¶2.  Delegates from twenty countries in the Caribbean came 
together to discuss common concerns and share ideas for 
contingency planning efforts in case of a potential mass 
migration due to political crisis or disaster-related 
emergencies in the area.  The seminar brought together 
natural disaster planners, officials from immigration and 
foreign ministries of 20 Caribbean countries, and UNHCR 
"honorary liaisons," as well as representatives from observer 
countries.  Participants found that the problems and issues 
on mass migration and natural disaster planning discussed 
during the first conference in December 2003 came to fruition 
with the political crisis in Haiti and the hurricane season 
in 2004.  These crises made the countries take a good look at 
their internal systems for coping with disasters and realize 
that they need assistance to set up a system within their 
country disaster plans to deal with mass migration 
emergencies.  The seminar was well received, with 
participating government officials urging one another not to 
be complacent and to put structures in place to respond to 
mass migrations, as they realized that their country could be 
affected by such a crisis next. 
 
¶3.  In part due to UNHCR,s and IOM efforts, and in part due 
to the events earlier this year, government representatives 
who expressed little interest in developing contingency plans 
of mass migration two years ago, were now sharing 
recommendations with other Caribbean countries, identifying 
shortcomings in planning preparedness, and even recommending 
that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) 
add plans for mass migration to its contingency plan for 
natural disaster.  At the same time, these countries are 
keenly aware of their limited resources and capacities, not 
only to develop such plans but more importantly to absorb and 
deal with a real crisis. 
 
¶4.  Several panel discussions revolved around the experiences 
of Caribbean countries affected by the Haitian crisis earlier 
this year. Participants benefited from hearing the very real 
situations confronted by the various agencies and services of 
the receiving countries.  In discussions on effective 
management of crises, participants identified some existing 
strengths in internal coordination and networking, in meeting 
basic needs, in status determination, and regional agreements 
and exchanges.  Areas of weakness included lack of 
legislation, cultural and language barriers, and the fact 
that more than a few migrants quickly becomes a crisis. 
Again, the issue of preparedness and potential impact of 
dealing with what would seem to be small number of in-coming 
migrants, underlined the need for capacity building 
assistance for these small island nations. 
 
¶5.  Delegates also had a chance to participate in workshops 
focused on issues such as public health related to mass 
migration, the protection of migrant workers, border 
security, refugee status determination and the quality of 
asylum during separate workshop sessions.  Participants 
engaged in role-play, sub-regional working groups to discuss 
tools for effective management and protection during mixed 
migratory flows. 
 
¶6.  Strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement 
on response mechanisms were addressed.  Delegates identified 
the need to coordinate not only on a regional basis but also 
internally within their own governments.  Many agreed there 
were no mechanisms in place for a quick response.  Although 
Haiti and Grenada were used as case studies for most of the 
discussions, governments agreed that similar situations could 
occur in their own countries.   This realization that influx 
could potentially happen to nearly any Caribbean country and 
the need to prepare for it, is exactly the result the USG 
hoped for in supporting these joint IOM/UNHCR seminars over 
the past few years. Other migration issues such as 
refugees/asylum seekers, legal/illegal migrants, trafficking 
victims, and smuggled migrants were also on the agenda. 
Although the countries involved recognized that they had come 
along way since last year,s seminar, they also realized that 
they still have a long way to go before they are able to 
manage migration within their region.  Delegates, conscious 
of the connection between migration management and 
national/regional security, requested continuing assistance 
and training from UNHCR and IOM to manage their own borders 
while recognizing the human rights of refugees and migrants. 
 
Common Themes 
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¶7.  Common themes and concerns emerged over the course of the 
conference from several of the countries across the region. 
Although many of the countries in the southeastern region of 
the Caribbean do not face the same fears of massive influxes 
of Haitian migrants, even small numbers of illegal migrants 
can still wreak havoc on these tiny island nations.  Several 
countries described the migration to their countries as a 
&trickle8 Delegates seemed to agree that part of their 
emergency action plans for natural disasters need to include 
instructions on how to handle detained migrants. 
 
¶8.  Examples of common concerns regarding migration were 
varied dependent upon the location of the country, and the 
likelihood for mass influxes.  Nevertheless, most topics were 
of interest to all delegates.  Multiple participants queried 
the panels for insight on whether or not to use schools for 
shelters during a mass influx of migrants or a natural 
disaster, as this often causes long delays in the opening of 
schools.  Many delegates also voiced concern over how to 
handle migrants who are known to have criminal records.  The 
prohibitive cost of establishing temporary housing for 
migrants and their repatriation is overwhelming to small 
island nations. 
 
Who Participated? 
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¶9.  The seminar welcomed the current Consul General from U.S. 
Consulate Monterey, Luis Moreno, who recently completed his 
tour as DCM in Port au Prince.  CG Moreno has considerable 
experience with migration issues in the region, and shared 
his insights on the panel involving early warning and 
monitoring systems.  In addition, he was able to answer some 
of the questions and comments put forth by the Cuban 
delegates to the conference with regards to bilateral 
migration agreements by saying there are no formal 
arrangements, but the U.S. makes semi-regular repatriations 
to Cuba in coordination with the Interest Section in Havana. 
The United States Coast Guard also sent a spokesman, Orsini 
Louis, the Assistant Chief of the Law Enforcement Office, to 
discuss the reception and registration of migrants on Coast 
Guard cutters in the Caribbean.  U.S. Embassy officials and 
PRM program officers also attended the seminar. 
 
¶10.  Representatives from twenty countries in the region were 
present at this conference to share their country,s 
experience with migration.  Although questions and 
conversations gravitated to the topic of outflows of Haitians 
through certain countries to the United States, all 
participants took away valuable information on how to manage 
the needs and the costs of illegal migrants.  Perhaps the 
most important aspects of this seminar were to raise 
awareness of the variety of issues that need to be addressed 
before the migrant arrives, and it also formed an informal 
network for the delegates to contact one another for 
information sharing. 
 
¶11.  In his opening statement, Vincent Peet, Minister of 
Labor and Immigration welcomed everyone to the seminar 
co-organized by IOM and UNHCR and which benefited from the 
assistance of the Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and 
the Department of Immigration and Disaster Planning 
represented by the National Emergency Management Agency 
(NEMA).   Minister Peet spoke of the rise in international 
migration and the urgency to address the impact of this trend 
on national economies, the need to develop contingency plans 
for mass outflows, concerns for refugee and asylum seekers, 
the challenges of border management and security 
(biometrics), and the highly disturbing phenomenon of 
trafficking in persons.  He highlighted the long-standing 
relationship of the Bahamas with UNHCR and IOM.  UNHCR has 
worked closely with The Bahamas on matters pertaining to 
potential asylum seekers and refugees, and detainees in the 
Detention Center.  IOM has several capacity-building 
migration management projects underway in the Bahamas, and 
has assisted the Bahamas with the voluntary repatriation of a 
number of Asian and African nationals. IOM,s support 
resulted in the Bahamas application for full IOM membership, 
which was approved at the eighty-eighth session of the IOM 
Council in Geneva, on November 30, 2004. 
 
Plea for Haiti Speech 
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¶12.  At the end of the seminar, Haiti,s Ambassador Louis 
Harold Joseph requested floor time to address the 
participants.  He thanked nations and international 
organizations for intervening in Haiti to help stabilize the 
country and to bring aid to the victims of the floods and 
hurricanes.  He spoke of the Haitian government's awareness 
of the potential problems caused by sudden exodus of Haitian 
nationals to other countries in the region, as well as 
Haiti,s commitment to respect commitments made by previous 
governments on migratory issues.  Ambassador Joseph said that 
while insecurity in Haiti is often attributed to political 
strife, it is important to stress that it also finds roots in 
social and economic problems such as urban banditry, drug 
trafficking, and the despair of unemployed youth.  He noted 
that Haiti has seen no significant growth in twenty-five 
years, while population grows at an annual rate of 1.5% (life 
expectancy is 53 years, infant mortality is 8%, HIV/AIDS 
affects 5% of the population, and only 68% of the children 
benefit from primary education).  He concluded by saying that 
while the democratic process is under way in Haiti with 
renewed dialogue among government, political parties and 
civil society, success is contingent on the realization of 
promises made by the international community to assist Haiti. 
 
 
Visit to Nassau Detention Center 
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¶13.  Political Officer, PRM program officers, CG Moreno, 
UNHCR and IOM staff took a tour of the controversial migrant 
detention center in Nassau during a break from the 
conference.  The detention center has been criticized in 
Amnesty International reports and other human rights 
organizations for inhumane practices and human rights abuses 
in the past year.  (See Reftels).  Although there were no 
obvious signs of abuse, the center does suffer from lack of 
funding and possible mismanagement.  The female detainees 
complained about the inadequate provision of meals and the 
lack of milk for the children.  Some Cuban women were 
pleading not to be returned to Cuba.  While lack of timely 
meals was brought up by and echoed by several detainees, as 
well as unwillingness to be returned, there was no mention of 
beatings. The water purification project funded by the 
Ambassador,s Fund was not yet completed at the time of the 
visit due to an additional need for a water pump.  The 
government officials at the facility believed that they could 
provide the contractors with a used water pump to improve the 
system. 
 
ROOD