Following the fall of the US-backed government and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the United States has been in talks with both Guyana and Suriname to accept refugees who failed to meet entry requirements for admission into the US.
However, the Guyanese government has largely remained silent about the request which was made some time back in September.
Yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd told the Sunday Stabroek that he is aware that there was a meeting sometime in September but there has not been any movement in the process.
“These were just preliminary discussions, I don’t think these were discussions to be taken on board at the national level. I think it was just preliminary discussions to entertain the conversation to see if it could be advanced but I don’t think there was any movement on that part.
“I am not sure if it has to be discussed further. I don’t think there was any movement or bumping up of the discussion. Those discussions were done at the level of the Foreign Secretary and they were just meeting with representatives who would have provided a framework and some details and I don’t think it moved from that,” Todd briefly said.
Efforts to contact Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud were unsuccessful.
On August 15, 2021, some two weeks before the official withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban fighters entered the capital and took over the government. Then US-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled the country leading to a collapse of the government.
The resurgence of the Taliban rule led to thousands of Afghans fleeing their country with the aid of the US. There are currently thousands of refugees at a US base in Kosovo and it is those refugees that the US authorities are trying to resettle in Guyana and Suriname. Back in September, the Wall Street Journal reported that Suriname Ambassador to the US Marten Schalkwijk confirmed the talks and said that the proposal was being considered.
