Haitians require visas to go to Brazil

Aug 05, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Guyana is likely to come under the radar of the United States of America over the large numbers of unaccounted Haitians. And there is the risk of Guyana’s anti-human trafficking status being affected.
In recent months, the United States has been reporting an increase in the number of illegal aliens arriving at their borders. And they have found that many of these illegal immigrants included Haitians who had been living in third countries such as Brazil.
The Associated Press, this past week reported that Costa Rica and Panama have arrested 48 people for their alleged involvement in a migrant smuggling rink involving nationals from Asia, Africa, Cuba and Haiti from South America toward the United States. Brazil is one of the countries named as places from where the migrants came.
Under former Presidents, Lula and Rousseff, Brazil extended a humanitarian arm to Haitians. They allowed thousands of Haitians into their country but these persons require a visa. Brazil took the step of introducing humanitarian visas for Haitians after in order to the smuggling rings which had developed for Haitian nationals going to that country.
Guyana therefore has to be concerned about becoming entangled in an international smuggling ring. Red flags should have been raised by the fact that thousands of Haitians have been entering Guyana legally but have been missing their return flights.
Many of them have been seen at the border town of Lethem between Guyana and Brazil. It is believed that this is where they are headed. Now why would massive numbers of Haitians miss their return flights and instead head towards the Brazilian border?
The immigration authorities ought to be concerned by this fact. If the Haitians had return tickets to Panama, it is hard to imagine them telling the immigration authorities that they were in-transit to Brazil. Why have a return ticket if your final destination is Brazil?
The immigration authorities usually question persons as to the purpose of their visit. So what explanations have been provided? What do the immigration cards, signed by the Haitians indicate? Does it indicate that they are in-transit to Brazil? And if so did the immigration officers verify that there is valid visa for that country?
When you are leaving Guyana, the immigration authorities and the airlines are pretty scrupulous about verifying visas. At one time, Caribbean airlines set up an additional desk after you cleared security to verify that you had a valid visa. The immigration officers do verify that a person departing has a valid visa for the country to which he or she is going.
So it is most likely that the same would be done for in-transit passengers. The immigration authorities should therefore be in a position to verify just how many Haitians said that they were here in-transit to Brazil and how many of them produced visas to establish this fact.
Cubans are also going to Brazil. There is a Cuban community in Brazil. The Brazilian would be able to confirm that the Cubans have been applying for visas to go to that country. But what about the Haitians? Have they been applying after their arrival in Guyana for visas to go to Brazil? The Brazilian Embassy should be able to provide these answers.
The reality, however, as every Guyanese knows that it is easy to be smuggled across Guyana’s borders into Brazil. It is also easy to cross over to Bonn Finn without even a passport – the authorities usually are flexible and allow Guyanese to go and do shopping or for sightseeing in Bonn Finn.
The question, therefore, is whether the massive numbers of Haitians who are going to Lethem are finding their way legally into Brazil and if not then who is behind this smuggling ring.
The Haitians who are coming are part of an organized operation. There are persons picking them up at the airport, shuttling them to Georgetown, accommodating them and then having them taken to Lethem. One assumes that all of this is strictly a legal operation. But what if it isn’t? Who is to answer?
Using the bogey of race to deflect attention from this issue does address the concerns that people smuggling could be involved in this influx.
Haitians are coming on return tickets but many are not turning up for their return flights. No other immigrant group has such massive discrepancy between those who arrive and those who leave. The immigration authorities should be made to explain.

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