The Bahamas said it has turned down an offer from Donald Trump's team to accept migrants from third countries deported by the US, the office of the Prime Minister of this small Caribbean said country, reported France Press, quoted by BTA.
„This proposal has been presented to the government of the Bahamas, but the Prime Minister has studied it and flatly rejected it,” the Commonwealth country's authorities said in a statement.
According to NBC television, the team of the billionaire Republican has drawn up a list of countries from which he would like to accept deported migrants.
Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as US president on January 20, promised during his election campaign that he would undertake mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis' statement referred to “Donald Trump's transition team's proposal that the Bahamas accept flights of deported migrants from other countries”.
„The Bahamas simply does not have the resources to respond to such a request,”, Bahamian officials said, adding: „After the Prime Minister rejected this proposal, there has been no further conversation or discussion with the transition team of Donald Trump or any other establishment for that matter. The Government of the Bahamas stands by its position“.
The population of the Bahamas is about 400,000 people, according to AFP.
According to NBC, the list drawn up by Donald Trump's team includes the Bahamas, Panama, Grenada and the Turks and Caicos Islands - all Caribbean countries or territories.
This year alone, at least 3,800 children have crossed the dangerous Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama on their way to the United States - a number that exceeds all previous records, UNICEF said, BTA informed. /p>
This increase comes at a time when the total number of migrants risking this dangerous journey has dropped significantly, according to Panamanian authorities, notes AFP.
"During the first ten months of the year, 3,800 unaccompanied children, boys, girls and adolescents crossed the dangerous Darien jungle", while for the whole of 2023 their number is 3,300, UNICEF reported.
According to data of the National Migration System in the first ten months of 2024. in Panama, 61,154 children were registered as leaving the jungle, without specifying whether they were traveling alone or with a companion.
Various NGOs report that these children who cross Darien alone have skin injuries, sprains, insect bites and signs of dehydration when they arrive in Panama.
UNICEF said it "is observing with concern the increase in the number of unaccompanied children and adolescents who are displaced in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
"When traveling alone, they are more likely to be victims of violence, including sexual abuse, abuse and exploitation, which harms their physical and mental health and well-being," adds the UN children's agency.
The Darien Jungle is a migration corridor where criminal gangs operate. The jungle is crossed in 2023. of over half a million people. Since the beginning of this year, 286,000 people have crossed it.