Prime Minister, the Hon. Philip Davis has left the country to attend a meeting of CARICOM leaders.  Before leaving for Guyana where the meeting is set to be held Mr. Davis fielded questions from members of the media.  He addressed the continuing turmoil in Haiti and a recent US report on guns.

When asked if he believes the current Kenyan led mission in Haiti is failing Mr. Davis said, “it is not failing.  The challenge is being able to resource them properly.”

Officers of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force are among the multinational peacekeeping mission in Haiti fighting against gangs that have taken over the streets of the republic.  The quest to restore Haiti to peace and good governance has had its setbacks the latest being the firing of Prime Minister Garry Conille and the closer of Haiti busiest airport.

Mr. Davis also addressed the possible influx of migrants to The Bahamas due to the unrest.  He said, “when we are dealing with two or three hundred persons coming in we could deal with that or stop that.  As you know, there have been very little landing over the last year because of our shoring up our borders and our partnership with other countries like Cuba, the United States, Turks and Caicos we’ve been able to stem the flow.  But if and when this issue in Haiti continues to deteriorate the way it is we cannot deal with millions of persons trying to escape Haiti.”

The Prime Minister was also asked his thoughts on a US report which stated that between 2018-2022 85% of confiscated guns in The Bahamas were traced back to the United States.  Mr. Davis said, “I’ve always, on the world’s stage been speaking about the fact that the United States right to bear arms cannot translate or mean the right to traffic in arms.  It is alarming. As you know, most of our violent crimes are perpetrated by guns which we don’t manufacture, all is being illegally brought into the country and we are attempted to continue to find ways to stem that tide.”