Bahamas Issues Travel Advisory to the US Following Shootings

[Little Tich]

Source: ABC

The Bahamas on Friday issued a rare travel advisory for any of its citizens visiting the United States, recommending that young men in particular take care in cities affected by recent tensions over police shootings.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns visitors to "exercise appropriate caution" in light of recent episodes involving police officers and black men. It also advises people not to get involved in demonstrations and to avoid crowds.

"In particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational and cooperate," the statement said.

The advisory comes after two black men were shot this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, and five police officers were killed and seven others wounded at a protest in Dallas — marking the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bahamas-issues-travel-advisory-us-shootings-40450484

[oberliner]

1. Bahamas Reaches Record Murder Rate

The Bahamas just reached 128 murders for the year, a new record for the country. By way of comparison, in 2014, there were 328 murders in New York City with a population of 8,500,000 or roughly 3.85 per 100,000 population. The Bahamas is on the way to 150 murders in 2015, which with a population of 360,000 population, is about 42 per 100,000. Most of these crime occur in Nassau (New Providence).

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2015/11/articles/crime/bahamas-reaches-record-murder-rate-as-chief-of-tourism-police-says-downtown-nassau-safe-for-tourists/

[Stellar]

4. Whoa, 128 for the year.

That is something.

The last time I was there, I was a Bahama mama and I had a ball!

[dlwickham]

2. and if you're LGBT, you'd be smart to stay out of the Bahamas

http://www.caribbean360.com/news/call-hate-crime-laws-following-lgbt-attacks-bahamas

NASSAU, The Bahamas, Tuesday May 17, 2016 – The Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) says recent attacks on members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community highlight the urgent need for laws banning hate crime in The Bahamas.

And GBHRA secretary Paco Nunez has challenged members of Parliament to introduce a hate crime bill for debate in the House of Assembly, as he called on government to place the issue at the top of its legislative agenda.

“The past several weeks have seen a shocking escalation in hate speech aimed at members of the LGBT community, culminating in the call by a senior MP for transgender individuals to be exiled,” he said, referring to controversial comments by Tall Pines Member of Parliament Leslie Miller. “During Junkanoo Carnival, this spilled over into physical violence when two festivalgoers were chased and beaten by a mob is what is alleged to have been a homophobic attack.”

“Perhaps most alarming, a video of the incident circulated on social media appears to show several police officers standing by, doing nothing at all to restrain the attackers or protect the clearly terrified victims,” he added.

Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/call-hate-crime-laws-following-lgbt-attacks-bahamas#ixzz4Dsny04to

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Several of those islands down there

have a reputation for homophobic behavior. I don't plan to visit any of them until they clean up their act.