At least 28 refugees from Haiti have drowned off the coast of the Bahamas. As the authorities in the Bahamas announced yesterday, the refugee boat sank on Saturday ten kilometers off the coast. First, 13 bodies had been recovered, 15 people could have been saved. Yesterday, 15 more bodies and two survivors were found.
The US Embassy in Haiti confirmed the casualties and warned Twitter, „Illegal migrants and smuggling missions are dangerous and often end in tragedy.“
Many Haitians are trying to leave the impoverished Caribbean state. The situation was exacerbated by a devastating earthquake in January 2010, in which about 200,000 people were killed. The population suffers from mass unemployment and high inflation.
