PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti– The United States Coast Guard has repatriated 88 people, including 26 women, who had been intercepted last Tuesday north of Sagua La Grande in Cuba.
The Coast Guard said that the illegal migrants were aboard an “excessively overloaded sailboat, “also taking on water.
“We ask families in the United States not to encourage their loved ones in Haiti to make this dangerous journey,” said Lt. Connor Ives, law enforcement officer in Coast Guard District 7, as the Haitians were being repatriated on Sunday.
“The risk of loss of life is great on these dangerous boats,” he added.
Figures released by U.S. authorities show that the number of migrants intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard in the past six years totaled 6 965.
Haitians flee the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country for a better life in North America and some CARICOM countries such as the Bahamas.