Deportee reintegration programme on cards
IOM Chief of Mission in Guyana, Robert Natiello
IOM Chief of Mission in Guyana, Robert Natiello

— but lack of funding a major issue

THE International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is exploring the possibility of reinitiating the ‘Reintegration of the Returned Migrants Project’ aimed at assisting deportees, but funding remains a problem, the Chief of Mission in Guyana and Regional Coordination Officer for the Caribbean, Robert Natiello has said.
In 2008, Guyana had signed a cooperation agreement with IOM, allowing for the implementation of the ‘Reintegration of the Returned Migrants Project,’ but by the 2012 the U.S.-backed programme had failed to take root.
In an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle in Queens, New York, the IOM Guyana Chief of Mission said involuntary re-migrants commonly called deportees remain a very vulnerable population.

“They come back to the country, they have difficulties getting jobs. They don’t have any work history in Guyana, and they have real real needs, and this is a population that IOM would love to assist,” Natiello explained.
He said for this reason, it is critical for any country to have a reintegration programme for deportees.

When the U.S.-backed IOM programme was initially launched in Guyana, the international organisation had partnered with the Juncata Juvant Friendly Society during its implementation, Natiello recalled. He said currently, IOM is holding discussions with the friendly society with the view of reinitiating the integration programme.
“For IOM, it is a question of funding, because we are a project-ties organisation, so we are different from other UN agencies which receive sort of what we call core funding. They receive, say, a chunk of money at the beginning of the year then they can determine how they want to spend it; but in our case, we have to develop a project with specific project lines and we have to have that project funded,” the IOM Guyana chief of mission explained.
While the first programme was funded by the U.S., he said the Guyana Government may have to step in this time around.

“We know that at this time, the United States, which was the previous donor, may not be interested in funding or continuing funding for assisting re-migrants, but if the Government of Guyana is interested, we would love to partner with them,” Natiello told this newspaper.
In Colombia, where the IOM is very much active, the reintegration programme there is heavily funded by the government. “In Colombia, we use to receive a lot of funds from the Colombian Government and in fact the Colombian Government was the largest donor for IOM in Colombia and continues to be the largest donor,” he pointed out.
He reiterated that the IOM will be willing to execute the programme if the government is willing to fund it.
If the programme is re-launched with the necessary funding from the government, Natiello explained, that the IOM, through the programme, will provide in-kind contribution to the deportees in a strategic manner, while equipping them with the requisite skills and knowledge needed to sustain themselves.

ASSISTANCE
“The person comes up with a business plan, we assist them with the development of the business plan, and maybe they would want to open a snackette or a nail salon and we buy the materials for that business. Maybe the person wants to go back to school and study, we pay the university. So it’s an in-kind contribution or form of assistance,” he explained.
In August 2016, it was disclosed at the level of a Parliamentary Committee, that 156 Guyanese were deported from Trinidad and Tobago between 2015 and June 2016. During that same period, Suriname deported 134 Guyanese while 60 Guyanese were sent home from Barbados. The minimal number of deportees came from The Bahamas, Antigua, Jamaica and the USA.
In December 2016, a total of 20 Guyanese returned after being deported by the U.S. Government following various periods of incarceration for a range of criminal offences.
Asked whether the IOM has been provided with updated statistics on the number of Guyanese deported from foreign jurisdictions, Natiello, in response, said the IOM contacted the Ministry of Citizenship – Immigration Department with the aim of acquiring the requisite information.

“We did receive some information but it wasn’t tabulated. It wasn’t tabulated so we would have had to gone [sic] through a pile of documents to kind of count the numbers and from where they came, so a lot of people have been deported from Suriname and other countries from the Caribbean, some from the U.S., Canada,” he noted.
It was noted too that there are more Guyanese being deported from the Caribbean region when compared to North America and other territories.
Natiello said IOM is also willing to assist the Ministry of Citizenship in addressing the issues it has in tabulating data with respect to deportees.
“I think that we can work with the Immigration Department to kind of strengthen the management of the data, and how to tabulate that information, so it can be easier to present to donors.”

In March this year, the government had signalled its intention to work with private organisations to assist deportees to re-settle in Guyana. The decision followed a projected increase in the number of deportees to Guyana from the United States of America due to the tightening of U.S. immigration policies by President Donald Trump.

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