Fred Mitchell

NASSAU, Bahamas – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has made a strong case for The Bahamas to become the first English-speaking Caribbean nation and small island developing state from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to sit on the UN Human Rights Council.

Noting there is a Latin American group on the council, Mitchell said, however, that “no one from the Caribbean group has ever sat on the council.”

“We think it is time,” Mitchell said.

The minister was speaking at the official opening of his ministry’s Second Annual Diplomatic Week. The event serves as a forum to strengthen and deepen bilateral and multilateral relations with some 70 countries and was earmarked to provide an effective arena to extend The Bahamas’ campaign for election to the rights council and re-election to the International Maritime Organization.

At the official opening, Mitchell reinforced his remarks that now is the time for a Caribbean nation from CARICOM to sit on the UN Human Rights Council by emphatically declaring, “We think more importantly that we have something to contribute and amongst other things we believe that the world’s interest in migration at the moment is a subject to which The Bahamas can contribute.

“We experience thousands of economic migrants coming to our shores without leave every year and it is important from the Caribbean perspective on these issues to find t

  Fred Mitchell, UN Human Rights Council