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Felix commits to give explanation for unaccounted Haitians, Cubans
Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix
Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix has committed to attend next Wednesday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Affairs, to discuss the number of unaccounted Haitians and Cubans who entered Guyana legally.
There have been previous attempts to get the Minister before the bi-partisan Committee, but to no avail.
“As a government Minister, while I would never undervalue the importance of such meetings, I must also underscore that my day-to-day duties must of necessity take precedence,” Felix stated in response to an article published by Kaieteur News on July 12.
Felix was invited to attend the July 11th meeting of the Committee at the Parliament Building, but informed that he was unavailable to attend the session.
The Committee’s Chair, Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira told Kaieteur News that the Committee has subsequently received a list of available dates from the Minister and selected July 25th.
The Ministry of Citizenship has revealed to the Committee that some 22,520 persons were documented as entering between January and April this year, but apparently 6,170 of those have not departed.
Based on documentation, 17,615 persons entered Guyana between 2013 and April 2018, but there is no record of their departure. Worrying is that there are no departure records for 7,255 of the 44,747 Cubans who arrived in Guyana during 2017.
For the Haitians, the records show, 3515 were recorded as entering Guyana in 2017, but 291 have been documented as departing the country.
Felix explained that all are aware of the size of the country, the porous nature of the borders, the paucity of human resource capacity to man these borders, and the ingenuity of those who would contravene the immigration Laws.
“My job as Minister of Citizenship is to search constantly for solutions to these issues within the ambit of my department’s mandate and the limitations already mentioned,” Felix stated.
The Opposition has questioned the whereabouts of the visitors. It is contending that the Government officials were involved in a widespread backtrack racket for which Guyana identification cards are being issued.
There were suggestions that this was being done to secure votes – a claim that Felix rubbished.
The Minister reiterated that the government is fully committed to the building of democratic principles, where the immigration policy forms an integral aspect of good governance.
“Unlike the previous administration, we will not use this route to enhance our capability to secure votes, since we are certain that the electorate is intelligent enough to see the changes we have instituted since being granted the opportunity to serve the people of Guyana,” Felix stated.
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