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Hatians
dead in Turks and Caicos detention centre
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September 20,
2007: GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands: Two Haitian
nationals being held at the government Detention Centre on
Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands died on
Monday night. Six other Haitian nationals being held at the
Centre were taken to a clinic to be treated for dehydration.
Two of these were in critical condition and one of them
subsequently died in the course of the day. The cause of
death will be established by a pathologist who will be
arriving in the Turks and Caicos Islands shortly to conduct
autopsies. The others remain at the clinic.
At the time of these deaths, the Detention Centre was
accommodating an unusually high number of Haitian nationals,
due to the arrival on Providenciales of two sloops from
Haiti in quick succession: one on Friday 14 September
carrying 74 persons and another on Sunday 16 September
carrying 176 persons. All were detained on the grounds of
attempting to enter the Turks and Caicos Islands illegally. |
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All the detainees
were finger-printed and held temporarily at the Detention
Centre whilst they were checked to establish whether any of
them had previous involvement in a crime in the Turks and
Caicos Islands. They were given food and water.
On the morning of Monday 17 September, medical staff were
called to the Centre to treat some detainees who were ill.
Two were found to be severely dehydrated and were taken to
the clinic for treatment, while a number of others were
given oral rehydration at the Centre. There being no reports
of other medical problems, except for some minor eye
infections which were treated with antibiotics, the medical
team left the Centre and did not have cause to return until
they received notice of the deaths.
Urgent efforts are being made by the Immigration Department
to arrange charter flights so that the detainees can be
repatriated to Haiti as quickly as possible. The return
flights began on Tuesday morning, 18 September and, subject
to the availability of aircraft, all the detainees who are
fit to travel should be repatriated within 48 hours.
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force have
launched a full investigation into the deaths and were due
to pass an initial report to the Coroner by the end of
Tuesday.
The police are also making efforts to identify the deceased.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government is convening a
Working Committee to accelerate on-going work to find and to
implement urgent solutions to the problem of over-crowding
at the Detention Centre. The Working Committee was due to
hold its first meeting on Tuesday afternoon and to consider
both the handling of any further surges in the numbers of
illegal immigrants in the immediate term as well as the
expansion of the accommodation space at the Centre as soon
as possible. The Working Committee will also look urgently
at the manpower resources and procedures followed at the
Centre
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