Royal Bahamas Defence Forces vessel HMBS Bahamas participated in a joint operation with Turks and Caicos personnel and the United States Coast Guard to apprehend 145 illegal migrants from Haiti on August 13.
THE WATCH STAFF
The Bahamas has proposed a maritime boundary with the Turks and Caicos Islands that would equally divide the waters separating the two.
The proposal by Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell came during negotiations between his nation and the British Overseas Territory. It’s the third round of formal negotiations on a maritime boundary between the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands and the first since 1996, according to The Tribune, a Nassau newspaper.
Establishing a maritime border was part of a 2022 security arrangement between the two governments. A maritime border would improve maritime security, according to The Tribune.
The Turks and Caicos Islands lie to the southeast of the southernmost islands in the Bahamas.
Mitchell said his government’s position is clear.
“Our position is in the middle, you draw a line down the middle, and you take that, and we take that. That’s the way it is,” Mitchell told reporters on August 14.
The Bahamas already has a similar arrangement with Haiti and Cuba and has discussed its position with the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, he added.
“The conclusion of these negotiations will be to the mutual benefit of our region as another milestone, further cementing our relationship with the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Mitchell said, according to The Tribune.
The negotiations have been hampered by a lack of geospatial data, Mitchell told The Tribune.
“We have the equipment and the technical capacity to do so. But you know, as a small country, it’s a little difficult wrapping up all of this to meet the requirements of these various meetings, and that’s why it’s taken such a long time to get it all sorted out. But we’re hoping to move the project along,” he told the newspaper.
The meeting took place August 9-10, reported the Turks and Caicos Weekly newspaper.
The Turks and Caicos National Security Secretariat (NSS) released a statement on August 17 stating that the boundary was an important diplomatic matter.
“Both parties have reconvened to address this historical challenge and work towards a definitive solution,” the statement read, according to Turks and Caicos Weekly.
“The Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas have shared a history of close collaboration and partnership, extending beyond the realm of maritime boundaries,” the statement continued.
The partnership has worked well in joint efforts on border enforcement and is strengthened by “deep-rooted ties and cultural affinities” between the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, the NSS statement said.
“As negotiations resume, the parties are committed to engaging in open and constructive discussions to achieve a fair and sustainable solution that benefits both territories,” the NSS said. “All parties to the negotiations are confident that by working together, they will reach an agreement that will contribute to both countries’ security stability and economic development.”