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Haitians at centre of controversy depart Guyana
Haitians at the CJIA sometime back, waiting to be picked up.
Kaieteur News – The 26 Haitians nationals, recently been at the centre of suspected smuggling/ human trafficking controversy, have left the country. This was confirmed by their attorney-at-law hired by the Association of Haitian Nationals, Darren Wade, who spoke to Kaieteur News yesterday.
His confirmation came after reports surfaced that the 26 nationals had “disappeared” from the hotel they were staying at on South Road and persons saw two minibuses pick them up.
The Haitians were picked by authorities within the period of November 7 and November 8. One set was discovered by the Trafficking in Persons Unit at the hotel on South Road and the others were picked up in a mini-bus en route to Linden – Mabura Road during a police roadblock. Of the 26 Haitian nationals; there were 10 males, nine females, two boys and five girls.
They were subsequently placed in protective custody at the Hugo Chávez Centre and an order to have them sent back to their homeland was granted by Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on December 2, after the matter was brought to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The order was later challenged, after the Association of Haitian Nationals in Guyana hired Attorney Wade to file a motion to block their deportation until the constitutionality of their detention is given argument in the court.
Wade had said that the Haitians were not charged or put before any court, making it difficult to comprehend the deportation order and he questioned on what grounds it was supported. He maintained that they entered the country legally and were granted a six-month stay by the Immigration Department.
The motion was filed during a hearing on December 3, in which Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire temporarily halted their deportation and they were released from the holding facility. The Haitians were given the option to be supervised and fed or released to an address of their choice and they chose the latter. They requested to be taken to the very hotel they “disappeared” from.
A hearing of the case was conducted yesterday and Chief Justice George-Wiltshire asked the state to prove that it obeyed the Combatting in Trafficking in Persons Act, after Attorney General Anil Nandlall said that the Haitians had been deemed victims of human trafficking. The Chief Justice said that the Haitians had been permitted to stay in Guyana for six months, and questioned whether they were given a victim advocate and advised on their status, all of which falls under the Combatting Trafficking in Persons Act.
She requested that the Attorney General and Attorney-at-Law Darren Wade, submit their positions in writing by January 15, 2021, and they will have to return on January 27, 2021, for clarification or decision. Both attorneys will also have to submit arguments on why the case should or should not continue since the Haitians have already left the country.
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