More than 9,000 Venezuelan migrants in Guyana
There are about 9,000 Venezuelan migrants in Guyana. So says Minister with responsibilities for Citizenship, Winston Felix. The Minister was asked about the presence of the foreign nationals and government’s capacity to deal with increased applications for work permits and citizenship.
According to figures provided, there are also over 900 foreign nationals granted citizenship in the last four and half years- eight of them Haitians. The issue of foreign nationals has been raised by the Opposition, which accused the government of registering them for citizenship, an accusation that is vehemently being denied. There were 8,476 Haitians who arrived here between January and July 2019. There were 6,925 of them who reported to Brazilian immigration officials after crossing the border, which separates the two countries.
They were simply not checking in with local immigration when leaving. It was concluded that the Haitians and Cubans were using Guyana’s no-visa policy for them to pass through to Brazil and further afield. There was evidence of a huge ring involved in moving the Haitians and Cubans to the Lethem, Region border, and the backtrack routes in Berbice. For a number of years now also, Guyana has been dealing with an influx of Venezuelans who have been crossing the borders to flee hardships in their homeland. There were about 6,000 of them in January. This has risen now to about 9,000, Felix confirmed. This does not include the Guyanese who have returned from Venezuela, after living there for years. Meanwhile, during the press conference at his office last week, the Minister defended a meeting at Critchlow Labour College with Haitians who he said complained about treatment by his staffers and delays in the processing of documents. He said that it was not wise holding the meeting at his office, at Shiv Chanderpaul Drive as the persons being accused would have been present.
Felix also slammed a TV newscast, which he said reported on the Haitian meeting and claimed that he had offered citizenship in exchange for votes. This was “completely false and libellous”. The Minister, at the press conference, said he has since lodged complaints with the relevant authorities and is seeking legal advice, with the view of filing a libel suit. The newscast headlined the story as “The PNC plans got busted”. The report claimed that a promise was made to a man involved in an alleged fake marriage scam that an ongoing police investigation will be discontinued. (Kaiteur News)