Bahamas

The Bahamas* continues to host individuals in need of international protection, with UNHCR supporting both humanitarian response and system-strengthening efforts. 

In 2024, UNHCR provided cash assistance and supported access to identity documents, and offered mental health and psychosocial support to refugees and asylum-seekers. While machine-readable travel documents were issued to recognized refugees, gaps remain in national asylum legislation and the inclusion of forcibly displaced people in social protection systems. 

UNHCR continues to engage with the government to improve the asylum system and ensure safeguards against refoulement. Despite challenges, all refugees and asylum-seekers in the country have access to safe feedback mechanisms, underscoring ongoing efforts to uphold protection standards in the Caribbean context.

*UNHCR’s operations in the Bahamas are managed by the United States Multi-Country Office, which also oversees activities in the United States and 18 Caribbean States and overseas territories. These include: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the British Overseas Territories of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands; as well as the Dutch Overseas Territory of Sint Maarten, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For more information on activities, results and plans, please refer to the United States of America country page.