Suspicions running high over alleged registration of foreigners
As the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) continues the House to House Registration exercise its enumerators have been forced to deal with varying degrees of abuse and suspicion including accusation that they are registering foreigners in an attempt to pad the subsequent list of electors.
GECOM has repeatedly made public that only those who are Guyanese by birth, descent, naturalization or registration or a citizen of a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for a period of no less than one year preceding the qualifying date are eligible for registration. Despite these repeated statement members of the public continue to claim that Venezuelans, Cubans and Haitians are being registered.
These claims have been exacerbated by reports on the significant number of foreigners travelling to Guyana in recent years and `vanishing’ thereafter.
Following one such claim from a concerned citizen Stabroek News yesterday visited a community on the East Coast of Demerara where it was alleged that “Venezuelans were being registered”.
This newspaper was able to visit the family in question who said that while they had migrated from Venezuela less than two years ago it was a remigration since they were born in Guyana.
A young woman present at the home explained that she and her brother had lived in Venezuela for several years before returning home and had therefore been registered using their Guyanese birth certificates.
“My other brother never left Guyana and we moved back in with him,” she noted.
A visit to the Registration cluster office confirmed the information provided. According to the Assistant Registration Officer (ARO) in the area all the individuals registered in the area have been registered based on a Guyanese birth certificate or valid Guyanese Passport.
“We have not yet encountered any Venezuelans or naturalized citizens. Everyone registered so far has been Guyanese born,” he stressed.
GECOM has already been forced to call in the Guyana Police Force because of the impact misinformation has been having on its staff.
A statement from the commission on Wednesday indicated that “a number of Enumerators were attacked and injured due to dog bites which were instigated by residents who are allegedly not in agreement with the registration exercise loosing their dogs to attack the field staff.”
It was also reported that some persons are using threatening language, instilling fear and providing misinformation that the staff will not be paid for their service.
“As a consequence, the Commission has engaged the Guyana Police Force to provide surveillance in communities and to assist with the security of the field staff”, the statement said.
GECOM urged citizens to desist from such unlawful and obscene acts warning that they would be arrested and prosecuted.
GECOM also restated that registration is a legal requirement and they have a responsibility to ensure they are registered.
The opposition PPP/C has denounced the house-to-house registration and has told its supporters not to participate.