Guyana may be home to some 5,300 illegal immigrants, according to Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, who said there would be efforts made to get the Immigration Department extra manpower to trace them.
During his contribution to the 2016 Budget debate on Thursday, Felix told the National Assembly that the immigration services need to be particularly vigilant as visitors seek to enter the country and remain here outside of the confines of the law.
He explained that unrecorded immigrants attract abuse including being victims of the “abominable crime of human trafficking.”
He noted too that “the flow of illegal immigrants to Guyana is as a result of the pull factor in certain developed countries but stringent checks at certain ports have forced these illegal immigrants… to use Guyana as a transit point… unfortunately, quite a number of them remain in this country.”
While Guyana is an open country which welcomes all visitors, Felix stressed that many appear not to have left. In fact, the minister noted that checks reveal that over 5,300 illegal immigrants remain unaccounted for in Guyana.
The minister reminded that in any country illegal immigrants put additional pressure on government resources as they utilise services while paying no taxes. This, in conjunction with their propensity to be victims of unreported crimes due to their vulnerable status, makes it essential that the government is vigilant in monitoring their numbers.
