Almost 30,000 overseas-based Guyanese returned home in May last year, the same month that Guyana observed its 50th anniversary of Independence, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix has revealed.
According to figures provided to the Sunday Stabroek by Felix, returning Guyanese topped the list of 77 nationalities who visited Guyana for the period May 1 to May 31, 2016.
The figures were tabulated based on entries at the various ports.
While it had long been said that thousands of Guyanese based abroad came home to be a part of the country’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, no figures or breakdown was ever given to support this.
Felix informed this newspaper that a total of 36,579 foreign nationals and overseas-based Guyanese entered Guyana during this period. Of this number, 29,993 were Guyanese. It was unclear which countries these Guyanese came from but it is believed that the bulk of them came from the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Following Guyanese on the list of 77 nationalities were Cubans. During the period, 1,460 came to Guyana. According to the figures provided to Sunday Stabroek, 886 Trinidadians, 816 Americans, 812 Britons, 793 Brazilians, 206 Barbadians and Chinese respectively, 193 Canadians, 182 Jamaicans and 108 Surinamese also travelled here.
Others nationalities recording large entry numbers were Mexicans, 80; Dutch, 78; Antiguans, 64; Venezuelans, 53; Filipinos, 58; Colombians, 35; Haitians, 31; Vincentians, 34; Russians and French 29 respectively; Grenadians, 28 and from the Dominican Republic, 24.
The figures shown to Sunday Stabroek also revealed that 21 Swiss nationals, 18 Costa Ricans, South Africans and Australians, 16 Japanese and Germans, 15 Bahamians, 14 Kittians, 13 Ukrainians and 12 Belgians and Koreans respectively arrived here.
Ten Anguillans, Chileans, Peruvians, Portuguese and Spanish respectively also came to Guyana during this month. The figures showed that Guyana saw visits from eight Argentineans, eight Danes, eight Ghanaians, eight Italians and eight Polish nationals. Seven nationals each came from Norway, Belize and Ireland.
Six Indians and Ecuadoreans respectively, five Sri Lankans, Turks, Scots, Ethiopians, Croatians and Bolivians respectively, four Bangladeshis, Nicaraguans and Romanians respectively, three Tanzanians, Israelis, Hondurans, Caymanians, and Arabians respectively and two Bulgarians, Curacao nationals, Malaysians and St Lucians respectively were among the visitors.
According to the figures one Egyptian, Greek, Guatemalan, Lebanese, Montserratian, Swede and Zimbabwean respectively, visited.
