TURKS AND CAICOS: BLOGGER ACCUSES COAST GUARD OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000282

SIPDIS

WHA/PD FOR CHAD WEST, WHA/CAR FOR ANDRE CADIEUX

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO BF
SUBJECT: TURKS AND CAICOS: BLOGGER ACCUSES COAST GUARD OF
ENDANGERING MIGRANTS


1. (U) A blogger in the Turks and Caicos (TCI) posted an
on-line report April 27 alleging that the TCI authorities,
assisted by a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter, were
engaged in "burning and smoking immigrants out of the 'bush'"
during an immigration raid. The blogger witnessed the events
and alleged that "human rights violations" were perpetrated
against the illegal migrants sheltering in the area during
the operation. Photos of a USCG helicopter hovering over
green areas amid smoke or dust clouds were attached. The blog
is located at www.tcijournal.com.


2. (U) The USCG immediately initiated a review of the
incident to include interviews with the aircrew involved.
USCG District 7 Headquarters determined that the helicopter
was acting within USCG procedures and at no time was
attempting to "burn or smoke out" migrants. The USCG further
determined that no individuals, TCI security forces, or USCG
personal were at risk during their operations. The USCG role
was to provide airborne observation assistance to TCI law
enforcement operations.


3. (U) USCG PAO issued a response (para. 4) which was
published on the blog site on April 30. USCG PAO shared
their response with Embassy Public Affairs but did not accept
cleared language. Prior to releasing their response USCG
officials also shared the statement with TCI Governor Gorden
Wetherell, who included portions of the response in his
public statement. To date no other media outlets have run
the story and there has been no public response in TCI to the
original post.


4. (U) Full Text of USCG Response:

Mr. Berke -

In response to your article in the TCI Journal, "Burning Down
the Bush," I would like to clarify the U.S. Coast Guard's
role in a joint mission with the Turks and Caicos government
to apprehend undocumented migrants living illegally in the
Blue Hills and Five Keys area. First, please allow me to
provide some background that may help to provide insight into
the Coast Guard's interest in this mission.

The U.S. government and Coast Guard have a long-standing
relationship with the Government of the Turks and Caicos and
the Coast Guard has been operating under the OPBAT program,
which is a Tri-country agreement between the United States,
the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos for more than twenty
years on law enforcement issues of mutual interest. The
Coast Guard routinely supports law enforcement requests from
the Turks and Caicos government due to the limited number of
surface and air assets in the region.

The Turks and Caicos police requested Coast Guard assistance
in a mission they were conducting to apprehend illegal
migrants in the Blue Hills and Five Keys areas. This
operation had been ongoing for several days when you saw the
Coast Guard helicopter hovering overhead the Blue Hills area.

The Coast Guard's role in this mission was not, as you
stated, to "burn or smoke immigrants out of the bush." At no
time did a Coast Guard helicopter intentionally fan flames,
redirect smoke or lower the aircraft to stir up debris or
launch projectiles into the air with its tail rotor.
Although it may have been difficult to discern from your
vantage point, what you witnessed was a Coast Guard
helicopter being utilized as a "spotter" for immigration
officials on the ground. The helicopter did vary its
altitude between 50 and 100 feet to provide the best line of
sight into the area and communicate with immigration
officials on the ground via hand signal. In no way was the
safety of the illegal migrants, immigration officials or the
Coast Guard helicopter crew in jeopardy nor were there any
injuries to any individuals involved. A significant amount
of the smoke that you witnessed was from "ash piles" created
when illegal migrant shanties were burned by Turks and Caicos
officials days earlier. The Coast Guard had no role in this
aspect of the mission and thus cannot comment on it.

If you have further questions on the U.S. Coast Guard's role
in illegal migrant operations with the Government of Turks
and Caicos, please feel free to contact me at
matthew.j.moorlag@uscg.mil or (305) 415-7153.

Respectfully,

LT Matthew Moorlag
U.S. Coast Guard
Public Affairs Officer
Seventh Coast Guard District

NASSAU 00000282 002 OF 002


Miami, FL 33131

END TEXT.

ZUNIA-BROWN