Families say they are "outraged" at remarks by Immigration Minister David Burch referring to Dominican women as prostitutes.

In a statement they said Senator Burch was giving "the wrong impression of a good country".

They added his comments were also exposing their children to ridicule.

The statement was signed 'Dominican Spouses of Bermudians'.

It read: "We are outraged that the Immigration Minister Senator Burch would make such an open-ended statement, as he did, casting a very disparaging light on all women who are from the Dominican Republic.

"The manner in which the statement was made is very unfair as it would give the impression that prostitutes are recruited only from this country.

"To give the public such an impression is grossly unfair to those of us who are here, happily married with families. Further statements in regards to marriages between older men and younger women are equally unfair.

"Whereas there may be persons who have less than honourable intentions, this does not negate the fact that there are very happily married legitimate ones.

"The overall point is that such broad general statements do not serve a good purpose, and give people the wrong impression of a good country."

Thomas Harvey, whose wife Loida is Dominican, added: "We are outraged that he would make such a general statement that is not representative of the majority of the families that are currently resident on the Island.

"We feel that we must speak up due to the ridicule that our children will now have to face within the community."

Last week Sen. Burch announced new visa requirements for people from the Philippines, Dominican Republic and Panama, saying this would crack down on "sham marriages" and women being brought here as prostitutes.

"The Department of Immigration has received complaints and investigated cases where women have been brought to Bermuda specifically from the Dominican Republic for the purposes of prostitution," he said.

The Minister added older Bermudian men were also marrying young Panamanian, Dominican Republic and Filipino women without them speaking a word of English.

He said the men then went on to abuse their wives, forcing them to seek refuge for domestic violence.

The Association of Filipinos in Bermuda (AFB) also spoke out at the weekend, saying people in the community had found Sen. Burch's remarks "unfair" and "offensive".

The AFB is to release a statement countering the Minister's remarks later this week.

Sen. Burch did not respond to this newspaper's requests for comment yesterday.