-after Canadian Refugee Board nixes ex-coastguard’s appeal
The government is making strides in ensuring the capabilities of law enforcement, the Home Ministry said yesterday, after a recent decision by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board to uphold its denial of refugee status to a former member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coastguard, who said he feared for his life after making a drug bust.
“While the capabilities of law enforcement authorities are not ideal, the Government of Guyana continues to make strides in this arena in order to effectively combat crime and to protect its citizens from the scourge of crime,” the Ministry said in a statement yesterday, while adding that its effort supporting the conclusion of the Immigration and Refugee Board that Guyana is in “effective control of its territory” and has “a functioning security force to uphold the laws and constitution of the country” in place.
The statement was in response to the decision by the Board to deny the appeal by the former coastguard, who had sought refugee status in Canada in 2008, on the claim that his life was threatened after he was part of a team that made a large cocaine bust. The coastguardsman had challenged the Board’s initial refusal in June last year, but he will now have to return here in light of losing the appeal.
After the Board’s initial decision, the ministry had stated that the refusal to grant the man refugee status was a vote of confidence in local law enforcement.
In refusing the application, the Board had found that the man failed to take all reasonable steps under the circumstances to seek state protection in Guyana. It was pointed out that he had only approached the authorities on one occasion prior to seeking international protection in Canada. He did not follow up to see whether his complaint was investigated, or the results of any investigation that was conducted. It was also noted that he did not know if his alleged persecutors were prosecuted or incarcerated, because he did not inquire.
It was because of the diligent efforts of the Coastguard that such a large haul of cocaine was confiscated and the persons responsible arrested by the Guyana Police Force, the Ministry said, adding yesterday that the law enforcement authorities would have been capable of offering any necessary protection in this matter should such a need have arisen.
It was clearly noted, the Ministry stated, that the former coastguardsman did not provide any substantial evidence to show that the Government of Guyana had failed in its duties and his actions were premature and he did not allow the established institutions and mechanisms any chance to prove themselves. “The failure to actively engage the Coastguard and the Guyana Police Force is patently obvious, since the former coastguardsman was remiss in following up with the relevant law enforcement authorities in order to seek a resolution in this matter thus preventing a thorough investigation as desired,” the statement added.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, the coastguard, who would have still been a member of the GDF when he left this country in 2008, worked as a repair technician with the coastguard division, had stated that on September 19, 2008, he was on a coastguard vessel when it intercepted another vessel. The coastguard personnel boarded the vessel and conducted a search.
“A large amount of cocaine was found on board. In the course of the search, the men on board the boat threatened the applicant and the other Coastguard personnel, saying they would be ‘finished’. The six men on board the boat were arrested and taken, along with their boat, to the Coastguard base. The police then took the men into custody,” the court document stated.
The man, in his refugee claim, stated that two weeks after the bust he recognised some of the individuals from the intercepted boat hanging around in a parked vehicle outside the Coastguard base. “The applicant claims they mimicked shooting a gun at him,” the document said.
Soon after, he claimed, he received threatening phone calls at his home. The caller wanted to know where the seized drugs were being stored. The man said he was threatened with death if he refused to cooperate. He also claimed to have received ten similar phone calls between October and November 2008, and each time he told the caller that as a repair technician he had no knowledge of the seized drugs.
He said he made complaints to both the Commanding Officer of the Coastguard, and the police in Georgetown when he realised that his life was in danger – the night he received the second phone call. Although the police took a report and said they would look into the matter, to the best of his knowledge, no action was ever taken on his behalf.
In November 2008, he travelled to Canada to attend the funeral of his younger brother on a visitor’s visa. After he shared his fears with his relatives, he was advised to seek refugee protection. He did so on December 12, 2008.
