Coast Guard rescues, repatriates 200 Carib migrants in one week
Published:Wednesday | April 2, 2014 | 12:00 AM
MIAMI (CMC):
The United States Coast Guard says it has rescued a record number of migrants in a week in the Caribbean Sea.
The Coast Guard said more than 200 migrants have been rescued and repatriated after a busy week of illegal migration attempts from Cuba, Haiti, The Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic.
It said as of Sunday night, The Coast Guard had repatriated 88 Cuban migrants to Cuba, 82 Haitian migrants to Haiti, and 41 Dominicans and two Cubans back to the Dominican Republic within the past week.
In addition, the Coast Guard said 17 migrants suspected of various crimes were brought to Miami and Puerto Rico for further investigation.
Overloaded sail freighter
The 210-foot Coast Guard Cutter Dependable rescued the largest group of migrants when an overloaded 30-foot sail freighter with 82 Haitian migrants aboard was discovered south of Great Inagua, Bahamas, the Coast Guard said.
It said two cruise ships, Norwegian Pearl and Carnival Ecstasy, last week rescued 65 Cuban migrants from "unseaworthy rustic vessels" in two separate incidents in the Florida Straits.
"Although there were no reported deaths in any of these cases, all of them could have ended tragically," said Todd Lutes, chief of incident management for the Coast Guard Seventh District.
"Not one of the boats had lifesaving or navigation equipment and nearly all of them were experiencing signs of distress and taking on water," he added.
The Coast Guard said one of its helicopters had also rescued 12 Cuban migrants, who were stranded on an uninhabited island in The Bahamas.
"Make no mistake about it! We will aggressively go after the individuals who knowingly put other people's lives at risk," said Commander Timothy Cronin, deputy chief of enforcement for the Seventh Coast Guard District.
"Human smugglers are ruthless, profit-seeking criminals who have no regard for human life," he added.
Since October 1, 2013, in fiscal year 2014, the Coast Guard said it has interdicted 682 Cuban migrants, 559 Haitian migrants, and 217 Dominican migrants in the Caribbean Sea.