Guyana went the full nine yards

Aug 04, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The worry about the Haitians is not so much about them coming, as their unexplained disappearance. In other words, this is an immigration problem for which the relevant authorities have to be held accountable.
Haitians have been finding their way to the Caribbean, Latin America and North America. Haitians are moving into the Caribbean. They are moving also to Suriname, Guyana, Brazil and Chile. They are also travelling in large numbers to Mexico.
There are some 60,000 Haitians living in Brazil and those that go there require visas. With a far-right government in place, Brazil is likely to reduce the number of Haitians entering that country. As such, Haitians who are in that country illegally are likely to move to Guyana.
There is also a large Haitian community in Venezuela. And many of them are moving out of that country. Thousands are likely to come to Guyana from that country.
Haitians have been backtracking from Suriname to Guyana. In September 2016, five Haitians nationals were arrested by the police for illegally entering Guyana from Suriname.
Guyana can also expect a flood of Haitians from other Caribbean states. Last year, Barbados joined Guyana in agreeing to a no visa policy for Haitians. This was after Caricom took a decision that Haitians, as citizens of a member state of the community, were entitled to ‘no visa entry’ into Caribbean states.
Guyana should take note of what has happened to Barbados. The government soon found that Haitians began to descend on Barbados in droves. Barbados has two weekly flights out of Panama and what happened was that Haitians were filling those flights and arriving in Barbados. The situation reached a stage whereby the Barbados government has had to reverse its no visa policy towards Haitians.
Jamaica took a more cautious approach. It decided to remove the visa requirement only for businesspersons from Haiti as well as those persons who have US, Canadian or Schengen visas.
Guyana, however, went the full nine yards. It liberalised travel from Haiti, granting an automatic six months stay for nationals from Haiti. And have Haitians been coming.
Thousands of Haitians have been coming to Guyana in recent times. No one knows to where the majority of them are disappearing. This is a matter for which the immigration authorities must be held accountable.
It is unacceptable for any government to explain the missing Haitians by saying that they are seeking greener pastures. The laws of Guyana require that a person must leave Guyana, by air or by sea through an existing port. In relation to persons leaving by land, the Immigration Act requires that the person present himself or herself to an immigration officer.
The fact that thousands of Haitians have been leaving Guyana without immigration controls should be a source of grave concern. The police have been hauling persons before our Courts for entering Guyana illegally. Persons have been charged and deported for entering by land and not reporting to an immigration officer. Persons have been charged and deported for overstaying their entry.
It is mind-boggling that for a year now, Haitians have been coming in large numbers to Guyana and this has not raised red flags among our normally overzealous immigration authorities.
It is therefore worrying that the government seems unperturbed by the fact that many Haitians are leaving without presenting themselves to immigration authorities. But are they really leaving? Are they victims of human trafficking? And who exactly is behind the movement of large number of Haitians?
Haitians have become the victims of immigration scams. Last January, 15 of them were left stranded in Barbados, after being told by crooks in Haiti that they could pay between US$2500 and US$3000 in order to remain and work in Barbados. When they arrived, they discovered that they were conned.
Most people seek greener pastures. But, except for Mexico, most people do not go to other people’s countries legally and then leave illegally.

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Guyana went the full nine yards

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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Guyana went the full nine yards

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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