A high-ranking ambassador says Antigua and Barbuda should heed calls for a public inquiry into the saga surrounding African migrants stranded in the country.
The main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) previously launched a petition calling on the Governor General to take action.
Those calls have intensified following the tragic death of an estimated 16 Cameroonians who were among a group of 32 people aboard a vessel that sank near St Kitts and Nevis on March 28.
It is believed that about 30 migrants had been smuggled out of Antigua and Barbuda aboard the rickety fishing vessel, La Belle Michelle II.
The 14 migrants who were rescued along with two Antiguans were revealed to have arrived in Antigua and Barbuda between November and December aboard charter flights from Nigeria.
Some people have called for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Gaston Browne who remains steadfast in his stance that his government should not be held responsible for last Tuesday’s disaster.
Akaash Maharaj, ambassador-at-large and former CEO of the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC), told Monday’s Observer AM show that an impartial investigation is warranted.
Founded in 2002, GOPAC is an international network of parliamentarians from more than 50 countries. It provides support in creating programmes against corruption.
“[Browne] has a duty to launch an independent investigation over which he has no control, to allow that investigation to run its course and for that investigation to come to a determination of whether he and or his ministers are culpable.
“If after that process it emerges there is culpability, then those who are culpable must resign,” Maharaj said.
“The only way I would say, at this point, the prime minister should be facing calls for resignation, is if he somehow stands in the way of an independent investigation, but I would hope that the public pressure would be enough to compel the politicians to do the right thing and to abide by the findings of an independent investigation or to abide by the findings of, be it, a national or international investigation.
“Irrespective of how this unfolds in Antigua and Barbuda, it is entirely likely that other jurisdictions will take an interest in this and form their own conclusions,” Maharaj said.
He continued that the migrants had paid the “ultimate price for the misdeeds of those who had profited from their desperation and suffering”.
Maharaj said last week’s tragedy had been “entirely foreseeable” and that the government should take responsibility for what had transpired.
“The simple fact is the airline that brought these people to Antigua and Barbuda is part-owned by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, the licence to operate was provided by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, and prior to the election when the government appeared to believe this would be a tourist boom they were more than happy to claim credit and full responsibility for having established this airline corridor between Africa and Antigua and Barbuda.
“It’s simply not credible for them to now say it was nothing to do with them,” he asserted.
“Governments have a duty of responsibility, they have a duty of prudence especially when they are using public funds and exercising public power; they have a duty of care.”
Eyebrows were raised last November when an Antigua Airways flight brought a planeload of visitors from West Africa to the twin isle nation, many of whom appeared to have nowhere to stay. This was followed by more flights from another charter, Hi Fly, causing controversy as suspicions of migrant smuggling abounded.
At a press conference last week, Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood revealed to reporters that she had made “several” recommendations last December to the government to halt the direct flights from Nigeria.
But Information Minister Melford Nicholas said that the government acted as soon as Caricom’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security made its own recommendation to the Cabinet.
He argued that between the last recorded flight from Nigeria on December 29 and when the government formally announced the decision to close the air route in late January, there was “no further harm done”.
When Observer media sought to clarify this issue immediately after Thursday’s press conference, Nicholas indicated that during the one-month gap, the issue was not deemed an emergency by the Cabinet.
Maharaj said the matter has snowballed into a much bigger issue that could have international implications for the country.
“It’s not impossible that the airline has effectively gone bankrupt as its principles run for cover, because this has gone beyond being a question of potential immigration fraud. We are now talking about – at a minimum – manslaughter. People have died as a result of the chain of events set in motion by this airline and, indeed, it goes even beyond manslaughter.
“It’s now the question of potentially an international crime involving human trafficking. This matter is not over. This matter has only just begun.
“The people of Antigua and Barbuda have a right to know to what extent the government was aware or complicit in the deaths of those people, and the people who died as well as their families have a right to justice.
“You cannot simply have a case where likely or more than a dozen people have lost their lives as a result of government actions and political actors simply say ‘the matter is done’ – it is not done,” Maharaj stated.
Over the weekend, authorities in Guadeloupe where La Belle Michelle was registered launched investigations.
Authorities in that country say they will be investigating manslaughter by a deliberate breach of security obligations, involuntary injuries by a deliberate breach of security obligations, and trafficking in human beings by an organised gang.
Maharaj said the crime straddles a number of borders and it could be the “one hope of justice in this matter”.
He said too often small island states leave cases to the wayside due to political influence on law enforcement and prosecutors.
“One can hope at a minimum that they didn’t die for nothing. One can hope that the people that are responsible for their deaths will be brought to justice and it will make the deaths of future people less likely,” he added.
Maharaj said he is hopeful that the prosecutors are able to obtain international assistance.
Meanwhile, in Antigua and Barbuda, Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney indicated that persons involved in the incident could face charges locally under the Migrant Smuggling Act.