The national security minister, Senator Dwight Nelson, says the Jamaican authorities have acquired a list of the names of prisoners who escaped from the penitentiary in Haiti, following the earthquake on January 12.

An estimated 4,000 inmates reportedly escaped in the aftermath of the disaster.

Senator Nelson says the names will help the Jamaican authorities in implementing security procedures to protect the nation’s borders from Haitian criminals who may seek refuge in the country.

He’s seeking to assure that intensive investigation will be conducted to ensure that the criminal refugees are properly identified.

He says the police will be assisted by interpreters in their interrogation of Haitian refugees who land in Jamaica.

The national security minister says those identified as criminals will be placed in available spaces in the island’s prisons.