Over 40 Cuban migrants returned to Havana
Cuban migrants being repatriated, June 2016
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Department of Immigration, assisted by customs and prison officials, has sent 43 Cubans back to Havana over the last twelve days, officials confirmed in a release Wednesday. There are now 64 Cuban migrants in immigration custody — two children, 21 women and 41 men. There are currently no migrants housed at the Bodden Town Civic Centre, as they have now either been repatriated or relocated to the main Immigration Detention Centre at Fairbanks.
As well as the mounting costs of dealing with the numbers of migrants leaving the neighboring island and often becoming stranded in local waters, over the last few weeks officials have also struggled with a catalogue of security issues at the overflow centres.
Last week, the problems for the home affairs ministry, which is responsible for dealing with Cuban migrants that are forced to land, escalated when the Human Rights Committee revealed a number of very serious concerns.
The HRC said that on a recent visit with the migrants it had heard allegations of sexual abuse, as well as consensual sex between migrants and security staff and illegal drug use at the centres. The committee also revealed health and safety problems and concerns about inconsistencies in the way migrants were being processed and dealt with.
The home affairs ministry took aim at the HRC for revealing its concerns but admitted that the ministry was facing a number of challenges, which they were trying to address, concerning the management of Cuban migrants.
Category: Immigration, Local News
See ya next week guys!
Do they get rum punch on the flight back?
Someone has to let these Cubans know that all they have to do is say they are “International Fishermen” and they can tie up in Omega Bay on a residential canal with no need for work permits and the blessings of DOE and stay as long as they like!?!
Oh yeah, tell them to bring cigars (duty free) too.
We are lucky to have the DG and Mr Smith in charge.
Good decision. We have housed and fed them long enough. Let them go back and work for their country and tell their friends not to bother coming this way. We cannot afford to take care of them.
When are the others leaving? May the good Lord keep them safe always.
After the HRC report? In most places that would be the crime of tampering with evidence…state sponsored here?
Hmm They are sent back due to instructions provided by the crown. Remember national security is handled by the UK.
Maybe, but oh, how convenient..