Haitians fined after admitting to illegally entering Guyana
Five Haitians, who were allegedly planning to travel to Brazil, were yesterday fined for illegally entering Guyana while a sixth was charged and fined for overstaying here.
Ronald Saint Cyr, 27; Jean Louis, 23; Jesudome Clerveau, 29; Soling DosSous, 35; and Bladimyr Pierre, 25; were fined $40,000 each after they pleaded guilty to the charge, which stated that on November 18th, 2019 at Springlands, Corentyne, they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an Immigration Officer.
The charge was read by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One.
According to Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, the five men, who are all Haitians, arrived in the country on November 18th from Suriname and acting on information received, police intercepted them at Lichfield, Berbice. Upon request, the men presented their passports to the police, who discovered that they had entered the country illegally. Further investigations revealed that the men were planning to travel to Brazil.
In their explanation to the court as to why they did not stop at an immigration office, the five men said that they told a taxi driver to take them to an immigration office but he refused.
Another Haitian, Peterson Dorsainvil, 29, who was among the group, was charged for overstaying in the country. He pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that between August 7th, 2018 and September 18th, 2019, at Georgetown, having being permitted to stay in
Guyana from August 7th, 2018 to September 6th, 2018, he overstayed.
Prosecutor Mansfield told the court that Dorsainvil came to Guyana via the Cheddi Jagan international Airport, Timehri on August 7th, 2018 and was granted permission to stay in the country for a month. However, when the permit expired, Dorsainvil remained in the country. He was arrested on November 19th, 2019, along with the five other Haitians who had entered the country illegally.
Dorsainvil told the court that he worked as a mason during the time he spent in the country. He was fined $30,000 or will serve a default sentence of two weeks in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
The magistrate told the five other men that if they fail to pay the fine, they will spend three weeks in jail as a default sentence.
After they pay the fine or serve the sentence, the six men will be escorted to the nearest port of exit and will be deported back to their country.