Bahamas apprehends 117 illegal Haitian migrants

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force on Monday intercepted a boat in the south of the island nation and apprehended 117 illegal migrants aboard, an official statement said.

The defence force stopped a white cabin cruiser about 61 nautical miles (about 113 km) northwest of the Inagua Island during a routine patrol early Monday morning, said the statement.

Further search uncovered 117 illegal migrants on board the 40-foot boat, including 96 males, 17 females and four children. All of them were from Haiti, the statement added.

The migrants were transferred to a petrol craft and are being transported to New Providence where they will receive further inquiry, the statement said.

It was the second time the Bahamas authorities apprehended illegal migrants in bulk within this month. On Sept. 8, the defence force caught 73 undocumented Haitians off the country's Abaco Islands.

The Bahamas, due to its geographic location and area, has been a major transit point for Caribbean illegal migrants, the majority of whom are Haitians seeking to migrate to the United States. Endi