Cubans forced to land due to faulty boat

| 09/09/2016 | 15 Comments

(CNS): Another fifteen Cubans were taken into immigration custody after boat trouble ended their journey, despite their efforts to press on. Government officials said that the group of migrants arrived off the coast of Bodden Town on Wednesday night at around 10pm. The Cubans wanted to carry on with their journey and left Thursday, but they were back Friday after the boat was damaged. Four migrants opted to remain while the rest made another attempt to carry on, but to no avail.

Cayman News Service

Cuban migrants land off Bodden Town, 9 September 2016

The second attempt failed before it got started and the eleven migrants had to abort the trip due to problems with their

rickety boat. All fifteen were taken into custody, bringing the total number of Cuban migrants at the Immigration Detention Centre at Fairbanks to 73.

Within the last week 15 migrants have been repatriated to Havana, officials confirmed.

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Comments (15)

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  1. i could asure you that we , Cuban Americans in Miami will be more than happy to supply the money needed for repairs etc and we are more trustworthy than the Castro regim

  2. Thank to all of you Triying to help my Cuban refugees , I was one of them 30 years ago with infinite problems in Cuba … all I could be is greatfull to those trying to help . Dr. rolando Molina a Cuban refugee tha lives in the USA

  3. Annie says:

    I would normally laugh, but you did not see these people head to what was most likely their certain death. The police were barring us from helping them. It was really, really wrong. I was stopped from giving children water. It was so wrong. We let them die.

  4. Annie says:

    I remember tent city. It was awful. And our whole immigration sytem is likewise awful. If I want to help someone in need I should be able to do so.

    I was told that I could not give the migrants water. Water! Really! What kind of savages are we.

    I am not asking for any help from Govt. only to act upon my own conscience. We put dollars above people all day, every day on this rock. At least I will be able to meet my maker in peace.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have a catboat ready for them to continue their journey? It will keep few Caymanians busy and boat-building traditions alive.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I see everyone here is in favour of the Cayman Islands breaking it’s international obligations and assisting illegal migration and encouraging people to leave Cubans in unsafe boats and die.

    What a great bunch of people you are.

    Let’s see how you will react if the Cayman Islands followed your stupid advice and was named to a black list as a supporter of illegal migration, human smuggling and human trafficking. Of course everyone would kick up a fuss and say we should be doing exactly what we are doing now. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  7. Annie says:

    I can understand why a government would not want to assist these people because of political cowardice. But why make it illegal for private citizens to aid refugees?

  8. MM says:

    I wonder… could the repatriation agreement with cuba be Government’s push-over, kiss-butt way to have our government subsidized airline provide flights there?

    There just must be some shady thing going on behind the scenes for this country to foot such a major bill; I could only imagine how much money has been spend this year alone on this! We might as well issue each group a new boat with supplies and let them go on safely.

    CNS: Just to note that the UK has responsibility for Cayman’s international relationships, including the MOU with Cuba, and not the elected government. It would therefore not be linked to CAL flights. Here is some background reading on why the first MOU came about: http://balseros.miami.edu/ (scroll down to the part on the Cayman Islands). There’s quite a bit more if you google it. I can’t remember offhand how much Tent City cost the Cayman Islands but I believe it was many millions.

  9. Allar says:

    One thing is for sure about Cayman and that is we are so stupid to get involved with repatriating cubans at a 100% cost to us. What a bunch of fools we are.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Our resources are strained by having to provide for refugees. Why does the process of repatriation takes so long? It is more cost effective to provide fuel, food supplies and repairs and let them go on their happy way. The government is footing the bill, who compensates for the costs?
    Their are persons here who could share in the spoil and live comfortable.

    • Beaumont says:

      Exactly right. Even if there are those who are so hard-hearted that they don’t want to render basic humanitarian aid, they can always console themselves that they are saving US money by helping them.

      The CIG doesn’t have money except which that they get from the people. I’d like a say in how it is spent in this case, and I’m all for providing help for those Cubans who simply need repairs or provisions.

      I have heard figures of how much per Cuban it takes to repatriate them. I’d like to see a vetted average of these costs.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Where is Popular Mechanics when we need them? They could do a whole issue on backyard refugee boat designs.

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