The opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has called the number of Cuban and Haitian immigrants who cannot be accounted for after legally entering Guyana “alarming,” while criticising government’s silence on the issue.
In a statement issued on Friday, the party noted that the situation was raised a year ago by a parliamentary committee and it charged that the APNU+AFC Coalition is continuing to ignore it.
The party’s statement follows reportage in the Kaieteur News newspaper of statistics, albeit not sourced, which indicate a significant rise in the number of Haitian immigrants who entered Guyana in the first seven months of the year (over 8,000) via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. The state-owned Guyana Chronicle yesterday reported that in the same period, Cuban nationals (41,272) accounted for the largest number of arrivals from the Caribbean region and the second largest number of arrivals behind Americans (45,944).
The PPP said on Friday that “alarming” statistics on the number of Cubans, as well as Haitians who cannot be accounted for since entering Guyana had caused the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs to summon Minister Winston Felix and then Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, on June 13th, 2018 to answer questions with regards to possible human trafficking.
The PPP statement noted that the Parliamentary Committee examined statistics provided by Minister Felix himself for the period 2015 to April 30, 2018. The immigration figures showed that a total of 93,374 Cubans arrived in Guyana, but only 76,663 were recorded to have left. This meant that 16,711 Cubans were unaccounted for and are probably still in Guyana. With regards to the Haitians, for the same period, a total of 6,245 arrived in Guyana, but only 963 were recorded to have left. Again like the Cubans, a large number of 5,282 Haitians were also unaccounted for.
“He refused to check the CCTV cameras at the airport and told the Opposition Parliamentarians to bring the evidence. Needless to say, the recent media reports have exposed the untruth in Minister Felix’s comments,” the party said.
“Further, the Party is primarily worried that these foreign nationals are being issued with Guyanese documents, which would allow them to be registered as eligible Guyanese voters in the ongoing house-to-house registration being done by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)”, the PPP added.
It said that the party’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, has repeatedly raised this issue of people smuggling over the past year, while accusing APNU+AFC Coalition officials of remaining silent on the issues of concern.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), smuggling of migrants is a crime involving the procurement for financial or other material benefit of illegal entry of a person into a State of which that person is not a national or resident.
Asked about the possible smuggling of Haitian nationals last month, Felix told this newspaper that he wants to see the evidence. “How are we confirming that? We are getting anecdotal stories that persons are being smuggled [but] somebody has got to convince me that there is smuggling because smuggling has to be done covertly,” he said in response to a report based on the account of a minibus driver, who transported a group of 16 Haitians from a hotel and bar in Soesdyke to Lethem.
In its edition of June 30th, 2019 the Sunday Stabroek reported on an investigation where Haitians were being transported by bus to the Brazil border via the road to Lethem. The operation appeared to be well organised and involving drivers and enforcers. Bribes were also paid to the police along the way. The smuggling ring is also said to involve Cubans who come here in large numbers. Police subsequently said the lawmen were being investigated.
Earlier in the year, Felix had dismissed suggestions that the operationalising of an immigration order, in keeping with a unanimous decision taken by CARICOM Heads of Government at their 39th Summit in Jamaica in July 2018, to allow Haitians an automatic of six-month stay in all CARICOM Member States, was intended to facilitate the padding of the voters’ list.
“This is a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation about a legitimate agreement being executed by the Government of Guyana as a member of CARICOM… Guyana is an open country, we have immigration laws and our immigration laws are used to deal with all persons arriving from different nations,” he said then.
His ministry also noted that towards the end of 2018, Suriname made the necessary adjustments to its immigration protocols regarding Haitians so they no longer have to travel through Guyana get to Suriname, French Guiana and other jurisdictions.
