Barbados judge shows lenience to ‘Guyanese’ illegal
A man who claims to be Guyanese recently admitted in a Barbados court to jumping off a cement boat and swimming to the shores of the Land of the Flying Fish where he remained illegally for months before being arrested.
Colis Arlington Paul, 36, was ordered to remain in the custody of immigration by a magistrate and to pay his own way back to Guyana. However, the Barbados Today newspaper reported that his detention has posed a problem to the authorities because of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols.
On Tuesday Paul appeared before the island’s Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes and pled guilty to entering Barbados by sea except than at a port of entry and disembarking without the consent of an immigration officer.
The offences occurred between June 6, 2019 and January 27 this year.
According to the news report, his lawyer attorney-at-law Jamar Bourne, argued that it was an act of desperation and a chance to provide for his family that led Paul to jump off a cement boat and swim to shore.
That was the defence put forward by Bourne as he mitigated on behalf Paul, of no fixed place of abode, but who said he lived at Rices, St Philip.
The report said that acting on information received, Coast Guard officials conducted maritime surveillance off Batts Rock, St Michael on January 27.
Prosecutor Victoria Taitt said during that time they observed and intercepted the accused about three nautical miles off Batts Rock with two other persons aboard the vessel “Slice of Life”, registration number S282.
Paul was detained and taken to the Coast Guard base for further investigation where a PCR COVID19 test was conducted and he was taken to Paragon base where he was quarantined, subsequently receiving a negative result.
While in police custody, immigration officials revealed that he left Barbados in June 2019 via air but there was no record of him re-entering the country. He told officers that he did leave the island legally and that he lost his passport in Guyana.
“A year and a month ago I hitch a ride by secretly getting onboard a vessel… which was responsible for transporting cement into Barbados and when I average it was close enough to the shore, I swim to shore and remained in the island,” he told police at the time.
The prosecutor told the court that efforts to obtain an address for Paul were futile and the man was not in possession of any identification. He admitted that he did not have any and initially gave his name as Dexter Paul.
In Paul’s defence Bourne told the court that his client has three children ages seven, five, and three, and works as a fisherman, labourer and handyman.
“I was instructed that in Guyana it was difficult to find work and to support his children. His situation became dire and he became a desperate man,” the lawyer explained, adding that because of better job opportunities and better payment here, he took the chance in order to “send money to his family so his children can eat.”
The defence lawyer pointed out that his client did not waste the court’s time, pleading guilty at the first opportunity.
“The offences are not of a violent nature. We see with refugees and the dire situation around the world and he is no different. I am urging the court to show some leniency. He was a desperate man trying to feed his family… asking the court to take that into consideration in sentencing,” Bourne said. The Barbados Today report said the lawyer urged the court to impose a sentence that would keep Paul’s record clean.
Under questioning by Chief Magistrate Weekes, Paul declared that he loves Barbados “1,000 per cent.”
Asked why he didn’t take the legal route by getting the necessary papers in order, Paul replied, “One day I was working on the cement boat… and a day I said Barbados is my home from home and I seized the moment.”
The magistrate then informed him that he had taken a huge risk, but added, “I appreciate the challenges that you have faced.”
Weekes reprimanded and discharged Paul on both charges but ordered that he be handed over to immigration officials and for him to pay his own ticket back to Guyana.
But according to the report, Immigration Officer Terry Simmons said there were a few issues with this case. He noted that a decision had been taken not to detain anyone at the airport due to the COVID-19 situation. Additionally, Paul would need a 72-hour PCR test as mandated by authorities in Guyana before he could board a flight to Georgetown. The department also needed to get permission from the airline in order to get him repatriated and due to the health crisis, that request needed to be made 48 hours prior.
The immigration officer also explained that they were also confronted with a situation where Paul had no identification or travel documents and the consulate would have to be contacted in order to get the necessary process underway once it was verified
that Paul was a national of Guyana.
“There is a lot involved the process given in
COVID,” Simmons said adding that they would find “a solution” in terms of housing Paul.