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Joseph Darville: Fred Mitchell will ruin the lives of children
By Joseph Darville, GBHRA Vice President
Feb 4, 2015 - 3:16:21 PM

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Joseph Darville, Grand Bahama Human Rights Association Vice President

Statement by Joseph Darville in response to the Immigration Department’s new policy on Bahamian-born school children:

I am appalled at the new and most shameful depth to which Minister Mitchell has sunk with the announcement that he will target the most innocent and vulnerable among us.

I spent many years as an educator, and two decades as a high school principal. I know better than most how damaging discrimination can be on the delicate mental and emotional life of a child. Every single student forced to “document” themselves under Mitchell’s new plan will feel the stigma of difference and the sting of prejudice every day, in what is already far too divided and cruel a society.

But that travesty is nothing compared to the hundreds and eventual thousands of children he will drive away from an education and any chance at a decent life. Mitchell knows full well that thanks to his actions, anyone of questionable status will be forced to keep their children away from the classroom when the new school year opens in September. Those children – who, if they were born here, have a constitutional right to be registered as a Bahamian citizen when they turn 18, will be prevented from becoming a productive part of any society. He is taking away their chance of success and happiness. He is literally ruining their lives.

Perhaps the worst part about this is that Mitchell’s policy seeks to punish innocent children for the alleged crimes of others. Their parents may have come to this country illegally (no one has yet been charged or convicted), but the children who will suffer committed no crime whatsoever, unless it is now a crime to be born of Haitian descent. Indeed, that is exactly what is happening –we are becoming a society that hurts and punishes people because of their heritage and background. You would have thought that being persons of African descent, we would have learned a thing or two about the evil of discrimination by now. I cry shame on Fred Mitchell and anyone else in government who is involved in this catastrophe.




Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of TheBahamasWeekly.com

 


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