Seven more Cubans come ashore on the Brac

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Customs and Border Control (CBC) are dealing with their third group of Cuban migrants so far this month after a boat carrying one woman and six men arrived on the South Side of Cayman Brac at around 8am on Thursday. No other details were released about the migrants who will be processed in accordance with CBC processing protocols, according to a release.

Before this month, there had been no migrant arrivals in Cayman waters since January. The first appeared in Cayman Brac on 9 August. Although the ten men in the boat chose to press on, two days later, they gave up on the journey and came ashore in Gun Bay, East End, on 11 August.

The second boat this month reached the Brac on Friday when three men chose to end their voyage and came ashore.

Changes to the legislation at the end of last year enables migrants’ asylum claims to be processed more quickly, leading to faster deportations back to Havana. However, CBC Director Charles Clifford recently told CNS that while this may have had a deterrent effect, he did not believe it would stop the arrival of migrants here, given the socio-economic problems Cuba is currently facing.