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Unlikely migration major cause of Guyana’s population drop – US Charge d’Affaires
It is unlikely that migration to the US has played a major role in Guyana’s declining population, said United States Charge d’Affaires, Bryan Hunt.
US Charge d’Affaires, Bryan Hunt
The US Embassy official during a recent sit down with Kaieteur News was asked about migration to the North American country and the likely impact of visas being issued.
There have been theories that Guyanese families have been leaving in droves to especially the US where thousands of Guyanese live, contributing significantly to a drop in population.
However, Hunt was cautious. He pointed out that the final report of the 2012 household census has not been released as yet. Government has said the report which indicates details of the population is likely to be released by mid-year. The results of the 2012 census would give the final picture, he stressed.
He said that the US Embassy has been serving on a weekly basis, an average of 25-30 families, whose relatives have applied for them to live there.
This is a small number compared to the hundreds of applications that the US Embassy has to process daily for non-immigrant visas.
There is no immediate evidence that persons issued with the non-immigrant visas are not returning home.
Hunt does not believe that abscondees would be much, as the US Embassy is careful in screening applications for non-immigrants visas. The applicants have to prove ties to Guyana.
Another factor for Guyana to consider is that migration is also happening within the region, made earlier with CARICOM skilled movement measures, as well as to other countries, including Canada.
It is unlikely that migration to the US played a major role in the drop in Guyana’s population.
The population decline has been a worrying one for political parties especially for analysis on their respective campaign trail.
Last year, Government released the preliminary results of that 2012 census which indicated that Guyana’s population had decreased by 3,300 since 2002. As at September 15, 2012, the population census recorded 747,884.
The decline from 2002 to 2012 represents an annual negative growth rate of 0.04 percent, the report stated.
The findings also proved that the coastland which includes the capital, Georgetown, remains home to the highest percentage of the population- 89.1 percent.
The population of the hinterland -while comprising more than two-thirds of the total land area- continues to grow, but account for only about 11 percent of the total population.
Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) has 41.9 percent, followed by Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) which holds 41.6 percent and 14.4 percent respectively.
The population density of Regions Two, Five, Six and Ten has shown signs of decline while the other six Regions experienced growth. This growth includes all the hinterland regions which, according to Chief Statistician and Census Officer, Mr. Lennox Benjamin, could be attributed to the growth in the mining sector which has witnessed an influx of persons into the mining regions.
The gender population report showed that the number of women continue to surpass men. Nationally, the ratio of men to women was 49.8 per cent to 50.2 per cent. This translated to 98 men to every 100 women. Along the coast there were 96 men to every 100 women.
However, overall, in the hinterland regions, men continue to outnumber women, which Deputy Census Officer Mrs. Vanessa Profitt expressed, could be as a result of the number of men involved in the male-dominated field of mining.
Buildings increased from 187,696 in 2002, to 219,509 buildings in 2012. This represents an increase of 16.9 percent during that period. This growth was attributed to government policies of making land available for home construction, as well as increase in the development of both government and private housing schemes.
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