§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his estimate of the number of refugees from Haiti currently on the Turks and Caicos Islands; what action is being taken to capture and contain them; what further action he proposes to deal with their return; and if he will make a statement. [22428]
§ Mr. BaldryThere are no accurate figures for the number of Haitian migrants in the Turks and Caicos Islands—TCI. The total Haitian population in the territory is estimated to be around 8,000, of whom 1,500 hold work permits.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recommended a registration project, to be carried out by a non-governmental organisation. The project is designed to register all Haitian migrants in the TCI and to establish whether those migrants without a work or resident permit have a case for remaining in the territory. That decision would be taken by the TCI authorities.
We have received a draft project proposal from the International Catholic Migration Commission, an experienced NGO based in Geneva, and are currently discussing it with the TCI Government.
The TCI Government have negotiated a draft agreement with the Haitian Government on the orderly repatriation of Haitians identified as economic migrants by the registration project.
Meanwhile, the surge in illegal Haitian immigration into the TCI over Easter has forced the TCI Government to conduct regular immigration sweeps to identify, screen and repatriate recent arrivals in advance of any registration project.
In parallel, the TCI authorities are seeking to prevent further undetected arrivals of illegal immigrants with the temporary support of the West Indies guardship and units of the US coast guard.