MIAMI, United States. — The Bahamian authorities detained 60 Cuban rafters since last Sunday, according to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.
That entity reported that 51 of these migrants were intercepted on January 8 near Cayo Anguilla by the crew of the HMBS Bahamas patrol vessel. The presence of these had been previously warned by the United States Coast Guard, which has reinforced its presence in the Florida Straits in the face of the massive arrival of Cubans on the coasts of that country.
Among the 51 migrants intercepted in the first group were 46 men and five women.
On Monday, January 9, another nine Cuban migrants (six men and three women) were intercepted by the HMBS Bahamas crew near the Cay Sal area.
The report of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force details that the migrants were transported to the Coral Harbor base, where they were examined by doctors, processed and handed over to Immigration Department officials.
Last Tuesday a group of 17 Cuban rafters was transferred by the United States Coast Guard to Bahamian authorities. The migrants were transferred to the archipelago by the crew of the cutter Manowar after Bahamian authorities requested US assistance to rescue people stranded on the island of Elbow Cay.
Testimonies from relatives of Cuban rafters indicate that many of the migrants do not even manage to cross the Straits of Florida and that some end up stranded on islands located north of Cuba.
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