U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell rescued 169 Haitian migrants near the Turks and Caicos Islands in October 2024. Haitians have fled the violence and poverty in their country in increasing numbers in the last several years. U.S. COAST GUARD
THE WATCH STAFF
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 169 Haitian migrants from a makeshift vessel that was rapidly taking on water in October 2024, as people fleeing the troubled Caribbean nation continue to make risky journeys to escape violence and poverty. Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a 42-year-old partnership involving the U.S. and two regional partners, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), led to the rescue and repatriation of the migrants, who were traveling south of the TCI.
An HC-144 air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami spotted the vessel on October 19, 2024, and alerted the Coast Guard 7th District, which diverted the Cutter Magaret Norvell to interdict the wooden, brightly painted boat, which was overflowing with migrants, according to a Coast Guard news release.
“The development of tropical cyclones in the north Atlantic poses a significant risk to unlawful maritime migration,” said Lt. Peter Hutchison, a Coast Guard 7th District enforcement officer. “Makeshift vessels are unseaworthy and incapable of handling the rough seas and winds brought by inclement weather.” Once safe, the migrants were provided food, water, shelter and basic medical attention before being repatriated to Haiti aboard the Cutter Valiant.
The TCI Police were also involved in the interdiction, according to a photo accompanying the news release. The collaboration involving the TCI, the U.S. and other regional partners is part of an overarching strategy to deter unlawful migration to the U.S. while helping to safeguard migrants. “The Coast Guard, along with its Homeland Security Task Force – Southeast (HSTF-SE) partners, maintains a continual presence with air, land, and sea assets in the Florida Straits, the Windward Passage, the Mona Passage, and the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Vigilant Sentry. The HSTF-SE combined, multi-layered approach is designed to protect the safety of life at sea while preventing unlawful maritime entry to the United States and its territories,” the release stated.
The potential for more deaths increases as the stream of migrants swells. In July 2024, 40 Haitians died when gasoline drums on a crowded vessel caught fire as migrants tried to reach TCI. “Haiti’s socioeconomic situation is in agony,” Gregoire Goodstein, IOM’s chief of mission in the country, told CBS News following the tragedy. “The extreme violence over the past months has only brought Haitians to resort to desperate measures even more.”
A U.N. Security Council peacekeeping mission, led by Kenya, arrived in Haiti in June 2024 to stabilize the political situation and combat armed gangs that have challenged the rule of law and terrorized citizens. The Security Council recently extended the security mission until October 2025.
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