STATEMENT FROM THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE PASSPORT OFFICE

For Immediate Release – 18 March 2026. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to advise the public to exercise caution before accepting at face value the documents the Leader of the Opposition has placed in the public domain.

Those documents may tell only part of the story. It may well emerge that, consistent with his usual practice, he has relied on documents that were improperly obtained and has presented them in a manner that is incomplete and irresponsible.

The public should be assured that Bahamian passports are, in the main, issued properly, lawfully, and with due care.

Having now chosen to cast doubt on the integrity of the Bahamian passport, the Leader of the Opposition must explain the conclusion reached by the Minnis Cabinet, of which he was a part, and which this Government has since reversed. That conclusion led to a loosening of the standards applied to the review of supporting documents, a matter that may help explain why these investigations became necessary.

A responsible government must proceed with care before making allegations against private citizens while investigations remain ongoing. The Leader of the Opposition has again placed political chicanery ahead of sound judgment.

It is the diligence of the present officials in the Passport Office that has led to the stricter standards now being applied.

The Ministry reiterates that the Government remains fully committed to protecting the integrity of the Bahamian passport and ensuring that any instances of fraud are identified, investigated, and addressed in accordance with the law.

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