34 migrants land in sixth boat this month

| 27/10/2022 | 18 Comments
Cayman News Service
Cuban migrants arrive off Cayman Brac, 4 October 2022 (photo courtesy of CBC)

(CNS): Another 34 Cuban migrants came ashore in Cayman Brac Monday lunchtime, the Customs and Border Control has said. The boat was carrying six women and 28 men and was the third in less than a week and the sixth vessel to arrive so far in October. Since the start of the month, 71 migrants have landed here. CNS has asked customs for the current number of Cubans in Cayman and we are awaiting a response, but it is estimated to be over 250.

The migrants are being held on Grand Cayman, either in the Immigration Detention Centre, in temporary accommodation at civic centres or in the community, especially those who are awaiting asylum claims.

No repatriations appear to have taken place to Havana since before the pandemic when both Cayman and Cuba closed their borders. Cuba reopened its borders in May, but no formal deportations have since taken place, though a still undisclosed number of migrants who were living in the community left the island in August.


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Category: Local News

Comments (18)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Cubans are ungrateful people. If they want to go and live in another country, first they should learn that country language. But they think that the other country should speak their Spanish language and abide by their culture. They think the other Country owes them, for when they come here they demand this and that, why they dont be like that in Cuba ?

  2. Last Zion says:

    This is both a simple and complex situation. The reality is that:

    i. you can’t sink their boats or push their boats away.
    ii. You can however process their applications quickly and efficiently. However to do that you need people who understand Immigration Law and also the asylum seekers need to have representation so that their case can be provided in the best manner possible.

    There is little information you need from the Cuban Authorities to process these matters.. Where the Cubans come into this is when the applications are rejected and they have to be returned.

    What we have hear is another example of why delays in the system causing problems. The Cayman Islands has essentially the hurricane season every year to process these applications before the new arrivals get here.. if you don’t clear up the current batch you get a backlog and this causes problems. It is perfectly possible in a functioning society to process and deal with applications of this nature within 6 months but for some reason this doesn’t happen. We are essentially wasting thousands of dollars every year in housing and feeding these individuals when if matters were dealt with quickly there would be savings.

    • Anonymous says:

      The big shots are making money from food/ drinks and toilet utilities etc, etc, etc from the Cubans being here. Thats why it takes long, long time to send them back to Cuba.

  3. Anon says:

    It is so obvious that this is organized trafficking of Cubans. Them showing up on Caymans’ shores is no accident. This is planned and very much intentional. This situation has to be viewed as such and a solution to stop the influx is needed immediately.

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    • Anonymous says:

      We need to better understand regional events, and coordinate a new humane approach with USA (migrant recipient border) and UK (our parents). Ortega lifted VISA requirements to Nicaragua almost a year ago, and these Cubans are allowed and encouraged to travel there if they want to. Our policy needs to be updated to recognise and account for that reality. Cuba doesn’t want them, and they don’t want to go back, so holding them here while determining whether or not to do one of those less undesirable outcomes is nuts. Those with valid passports, vax record, and relatives willing to buy them an onward airline ticket, should be allowed to board a special once a month CAL charter from GCM to MGA, with a Tortuga rum punch in hand, safe travels. Tell your friends.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Again, our authorities are caught surprised as foreigners make illegal unscheduled landfall? Is there any reason why the Coast Guard can’t see and track these boats with their 100 nautical mile radar and intervene hours before they make out the shoreline? That should go for all foreign vessels entering our waters. That’s why we have a Coast Guard!?!

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    • Anonymous says:

      What would you suggest they do to “deter” them?

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      • Anonymous says:

        We need to educate ourselves and be fluent in international regional events. These are not illegal migrants, they are just poor humans improvising transport from Cuba. They are allowed and encouraged to go, with blessing of Cuban authorities and at the invitation of Ortega in Nicaragua. Bring them safely to shore, give them some water and food, somewhere to rest, a shower, laundry, and a VoIP channel to call overseas relatives that can process a payment to buy them an onward CAL airline ticket. Put them in an air conditioned airport shuttle bus, hand them a Tortuga Rum Punch and wish them all the best. I don’t understand this prisoner warehouse mentality at all. We need to get over ourselves and understand the Brac is not the final destination for travellers from Cuba. They are not guilty of any intentional crime. Our side should be a travellers hostile, not a prison…esp those still interested in the veneer of credible Christian ideology.

    • Anonymous says:

      Our Coast Guard should tow them back to the country that they have lawful permission to enter. Cayman is not that country!

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  5. Anonymous says:

    So is the Coast Guard just chilling by Rum Point?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Deport them ASAP!!!!

    CNS: The goal of the CIG is to repatriate them ASAP but they must first process any asylum applications, and then they need the cooperation of the Cuban government, and this is where the holdup lies.

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    • Anonymous says:

      We are in the middle. The goal of the CIG is tone deaf to Nicaragua’s open invitation since Nov 2021, Cuba’s permission/encouragement to leave, and the migrants desire and human right to get somewhere else. Cayman doesn’t have the capacity to process them here. Cheaper to fly them to Managua and let Ortega process them there, with apologies to the USA. If the USA wants them back in Havana, let them pay CAL to repatriate. Get the UK FCO on the horn and run this up to the ambassadorial level.

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    • Anonymous says:

      CNS – the government wastes months in their processing of asylum claims. It can and should be done very much faster. The delays can be ridiculous.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    This is not working. Need a plan B. It would be cheaper to help them get where they want to go. When the only other option is being sent back to Cuba, you force them to ask for asylum.

    CNS: As has been pointed out on the previous thread, if Cayman “helped” Cubans to reach a third country, this would result in a massive influx and an even bigger and more expensive headache for Cayman. There are other issues that have also been pointed out, but the important one to focus on is that the UK would not allow it.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    we need a new cuban refugee policy.

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    • Anonymous says:

      It needs to be humane, and adaptable to changing reality, not rigid to policy and CAL’s Havana airlift deals from 1995.

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