October 22, 2004

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, accompanied by High Commissioner to CARICOM, Leonard Archer, arrived in Kingston last evening and immediately met with the students at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, at an evening reception in the Visitors Lodge of the University.  There are 105 Bahamian students at the Mona Campus of UWI and the Bahamas Student Association there is led by Cindy Simon.

The meeting took the format of a dialogue on issue of importance to the students.  The Minister told the students that the Prime Minister sent his best wishes and wished them to know that he was looking forward to attending the Bahamas Week celebrations at the University sponsored by the Bahamas Student Association in February 2005. 

The Minister also assured the students of the Prime Minister’s special concern for their welfare and a feeling of a special bond with them since the airlift was arranged from Jamaica shortly before Hurricane Ivan hit the island in September. 

The students related how some of them participated in the demonstrations on campus in support of their fellow students even though the issues did not directly impact many Bahamians. 

The Minister said that the students were the future of the country and it was the remit of the Foreign Minister to strengthen links with Bahamian communities abroad.  It was as part of that remit that he was visiting Jamaica. 

Students at UWI also raised the question of the Bahamas participation in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, the Caribbean Court of Justice, the integration movement regionally in the region, and the Bahamas’ place in the world. The Minister encouraged them to participate in the civic life of the campus, which would prepare them for their involvement in the civic life of the country. 

He will visit with the students at the University of the Northern Caribbean, the Seventh Day Adventist College in Mandeville, today at lunch, where there are 42 Bahamians.

The Minister leaves for Barbados on Saturday to attend the CARICOM Foreign Ministers Retreat.