Changes coming to make asylum claims more difficult
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has steered legislation through parliament, without opposition, to make asylum claims more difficult for irregular migrants and speed up the process. As Border Control Minister Chris Saunders brought an amendment bill to parliament Monday, he said the number of Cubans now arriving was creating a crisis, and changes to the law could reduce the time they remain here and deter others from coming.
“We are in the midst of a crisis… with serious economic and security implications,” he told MPs, noting that there are currently more than 350 migrants here going through the immigration process. “The significant increase in arrivals is putting a severe strain on the Customs and Border Control Agency… both in Grand Cayman and in Cayman Brac.”
The spike in arrivals this year is compounded by the fact that all migrants now claim asylum. Saunders said it takes more than nine months to go through that process, despite the memorandum of understanding with Cuba which was designed to cut down the time migrants spend in Cayman before being repatriated.
“It is imperative… that we shorten the average length of stay,” he said. “The magnitude of the financial burden is directly related to the length of time that a migrant remains in the Cayman Islands. Although the MOU with the Cuban government sets out timelines for the exchange of information, the actual length of time a migrant remains… depends on how long it takes to process the application for asylum and any subsequent appeal to the Refugee Protection Appeals Tribunal.
“Almost all migrants arriving in the Cayman Islands exercise the ability to apply for asylum and the right of appeal,” he said, noting that there can also be delays in thier repatriation while they wait for approval from the Cuban Government. However, the minister said that meetings had recently taken place between local and visiting Cuban officials to tighten up that part of the process.
He said that the average time that migrants spend in the Cayman Islands is nine months. It costs $1,300 per month for each migrant and an average total of $11,700 per migrant from arrival to departure, which does not include the cost of repatriation.
Saunders said that between 2015 and 2021, between one and five migrants landed per year. However, as the economic situation in Cuba deteriorates, since April of this year, 360 undocumented migrants have landed in Cayman, 100 of them in October alone, and arrivals continue as seven more men arrived in Cayman Brac as the minister was presenting the bill. The government now anticipates that it will have spent close to $3 million on dealing with accommodation and additional security measures for migrants by the end of 2022.
The amendments to the Customs and Border Control Act, he said, are designed to streamline the asylum process while still adhering to international obligations. The first change is the application of a higher standard by the director of CBC and the Refugee Protection Appeals Tribunal when determining whether a migrant is actually at risk of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political ideology.
It will also allow the CBC director to delegate decisions to senior officers of the rank of assistant director or above. The director will also have the power to determine that an application is unfounded, based on information given during the initial interview or after the full asylum interview.
While it was not clear if such decisions can also be made by any CBC officer other than the director, Saunders said that determinations of this type will eliminate the right of appeal to the RPAT, though it still provides for a judicial review application. This will reduce the number of people going through the full asylum process, he said.
The new law will require an immediate explanation if a claim is refused to speed up any responding appeal process where it is still applicable, and provides for an increase in the number of members of the Refugee Protection Appeals Tribunal so more cases can be heard.
Successful asylum claimants will now initially be granted three years to remain in the Cayman Islands instead of allowing them to remain indefinitely. At that point, the refugee can apply for indefinite leave to remain but it also leaves the window open for deportation if their circumstances have changed.
Saunders said this was being introduced because in the past some refugees granted asylum have immediately begun travelling back and forth to Cuba after they have obtained the documents confirming their leave to remain indefinitely, raising questions about their claim after the fact. In future, anyone doing this would not have their asylum status extended.
Most of the amendments are based on ones recently made in UK law, as Britain struggles to deal with its own ever-growing migrant crisis, Sauders revealed. But there is little evidence that these changes deter migrants. Despite continued efforts by the Conservative government over recent years to make it harder to enter the UK, the number of migrants and refugees arriving in England across the Channel has more than doubled in the last two years.
While governments can address pull factors by making it less attractive to economic migrants, the push factors can, as they currently are in Cuba, be a greater motivation to leave and take their chances.
Saunders expressed sympathy for the people of Cuba and said that the ties between the communities were strong, but he said the government doesn’t have the resources to deal with the increase in people and asylum claims. Nevertheless, he said he was well aware that the “economic situation in Cuba is quite dire at this time”, pointing to the dilapidated state of the boats used to bring people here as a sign of their desperation.
The minister said the government had deliberated heavily on this issue as it was “mindful of the number of Cubans who have settled here” and contributed to the community, as well as the strong historical and traditional ties to Cuba.
Expressing his support for the bill, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson explained why the Cayman Islands could not just give the migrants food and water, fix their boats and send them on their way, as some people in the community have suggested. He said they would be running the risk of “being branded as a country of being supportive of illegal immigration because that’s what we would be doing… and we certainly wouldn’t want anyone doing that to us”.
Manderson also noted safety concerns in sending people on rickety boats out to sea, which was “putting persons’ lives in jeopardy”. He said that Cayman was mindful of its international obligations and doing “the responsible thing”.
Watch Deputy Premier Saunders’ address and the DG’s contribution below:
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Whilst I assume they are simply going to reject all asylum claims, it’s ironic that anyone they do grant asylum to will then have greater rights than someone who arrived lawfully and faces a 15 year track before they can even apply for status. Cuban asylum seeker can get it in 3 years.
The flip side 8:17 is would you get on a pretty sketchy vessel with your kids, risk yours and their lives and everything else for it or happily pay the fees and endure the process 🤷🏻♀️
I dunno. I did go on the Jolly Roger a couple of times.
Or , if you are a friend of you know who, you can get it by cabinet grant.
‘Changes coming to make asylum claims more difficult’
Is PACT steering more authoritarian to stem the comedic onslaught against them ? no more free speech, no more ‘PACT clown car’ no more ‘where’s the straight jackets for the MLA’s ?’ – If refugees are to arrive surely the first thing they must be wondering is ‘ok there’s the inmates but who’s running it all ?’
THANK YOU, PACT!!!
They all claim asylum because that’s their only choice. You need a plan B. Maybe this change will work, but it would still be cheaper to send them on their way.
that you DG. I needed that explanation. kudos to the Government for tackling this matter.
we can look to the UK to assist us with new legislation. they want to send their asylum seekers to Rwanda.
for those bleeding heart posters. Nip up to BT where the migrants are being held and assist them. you will soon regret it. ungratefulness is the norm.
its taken so long to decide to do this bill? we been billed for these people for 7 or 8 yrs now
Yesterday Sunak set out to commit an act that in British conservative circles should be presented as a feat. The government has prepared a plan to combat illegal migrants storming the British coast in rubber boats. “We will end the Strait crisis,” Sunak said. He threatens violators with a reinforcement of the coast guard: a new unit of 700 people will be formed, equipped with “the latest technology, including drones, to detect small boats.” By the end of next year, they promised to put an end to the dusty cases of illegal immigrants: in 2021, the migration authorities were able to sort out only four percent of them. Migrants from expensive hotels will be relocated to vacant summer camps, military barracks and sent to Rwanda as soon as legal proceedings related to this controversial project are completed. Sunak also intends to deport illegal Albanians to their homeland (“Albania is a safe and prosperous country”) and generally legislate the norm – “if you arrived in Britain illegally, then you cannot stay here.”
Unfortunately, on the day Sunak announced the program of decisive action, a catastrophe occurred in the English Channel. At about three in the morning, one of the rubber boats with migrants – overcrowded as always – began to deflate and go under water. Four people died, more than forty, fortunately, managed to be saved. What happened can be interpreted as a bad sign, since it coincided with the announcement of the upcoming reform. On the other hand, the tragedy can be perceived as another wake-up call – the need to act so that people do not die.
The problem is that repressive measures alone cannot solve the problem of illegal migration.
Perhaps the US and Cuban governments, being the parties responsible for the political/economic mess that is Cuba, could be billed by the Cayman Govt. At the very least, they should contribute something towards the cost of flying a security guard from Katmandu to sit on a chair out front of the Gun Bay civic centre and watch Cubans sprawled all over the car park.
But look on the bright side. At least Cayman hasn’t been discovered by the Haitians.
These are the wonderful product of Castro’s communism. Throw them all out!!!
Unbelievable how this so called christian community does not give a fuck about there fellow humans.
These are people too. They have kids and parents. What makes you so holy, that you don’t care ?
it’s a numbers game. The easier it is to get here and stay here, the more will come. Cayman doesn’t have the space or govt resources to allow unlimited inward migration, no matter how “christian” it might be.
While we’re at it, can we make it more difficult for the Jammies to rock up too? Asking for a friend.
Too late.
How about putting these people to work, unpaid to offset their costs here?
Yeah, let’s reintroduce slavery! Only for non Caymanians, of course.
Government looking after Cubans refugees better than they own Caymanians
Send them all back to Cuba and make them sort things out over there. None should be given political asylum . The problems in Cuba are not a Cayman problem. Too many criminals washing up on these shores that are being looked after by our government.
Bet you are a loud ‘Christian’ too. Hope you never find yourself in a position to look for help, beg and hope for asylum. Oh wait !!! You would go to UK. Right.
Look at the increase in crime on this island. Desperate Cubans are on our road. They don’t want to go back to Cuba. Don’t you think some of them won’t steal and rob to continue on their journey!
Yet countless amount of times we keep reading a man from GT, WB, BT etc etc was arrested in connection with this and that. Cha
Yes Jamaicans and their offspring from GT, BT, WB, etc.