…dismisses Haitians voting claims

THE Guyana Government on Wednesday said it was fully committed to the building of democratic principles and sees an effective immigration policy as an integral aspect of good governance, even as it rebuffed claims of Haitians being allowed here for voting purposes.
“Let me use this opportunity to once again reiterate that this government is fully committed to the building of our democratic principles, that we see immigration policy as an integral aspect of good governance, that unlike the previous administration we will not use this route to enhance our capability to secure votes, since we are certain that the electorate is intelligent enough to see the changes we have instituted since being granted the opportunity to serve the people of Guyana,” Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix said in a statement in response to an article in the Kaieteur News titled, “Felix dodges another parliamentary meeting to explain unaccounted Haitians, Cubans.”

Describing the article as “wholly fallacious and unsubstantiated,” Minister Felix said it suggests that as Minister of Citizenship, he has been attempting to avoid investigation into what appears to be unaccounted numbers of migrants in the country.

“First, let me establish for the record that there is an established procedure and protocol for Parliamentary Sectoral Committee attendance and the headline of the article is in direct contravention to the fourth paragraph that clearly indicates that the committee has been provided with dates for said meeting from which one has been selected. As a government minister, while I would never undervalue the importance of such meetings, I must also underscore that my day-to-day duties must of necessity take precedence,” Felix said.
He said his concern in this matter is not so much the presentation of the facts, clearly reliant on statistical evidence, but on the tone that is being promulgated by a writer “who at no time took the opportunity to speak with me as to what may have been the reasons for the numbers and with no attempt on their part to make any other suggestion, than that the department and by extension the government is using this method to secure votes.”
According to the minister, responsible journalism is critical “if we are to build our fledgling democracy and the media through its exercise of free speech hold the power to create both good and bad outcomes, dependent on their being lax with the truth. This government had evidenced its commitment to press freedom and we will not stand by and see this freedom used irresponsibly by those with hidden agendas.”

Porous borders
Felix added that all Guyanese are aware of the size of the country, “the porous nature of our borders, the paucity of our human-resource capacity to man these borders, and the ingenuity of those who would contravene our immigration laws. My job as Minister of Citizenship is to search constantly for solutions to these issues within the ambit of my department’s mandate and the limitations already mentioned.”
Late last month, Felix had rejected said insinuations that the present administration is allowing thousands of Haitians and Cubans to remain in Guyana and gain citizenship, so that they can vote at the upcoming 2020 General and Regional Elections. Speaking with reporters during a break at a sitting of the National Assembly, Felix declared that such a suggestion is “utter and complete nonsense.”

He explained that figures provided recently by his office to the parliamentary committee on foreign relations have given a factual breakdown on the number of persons who arrived here as opposed to those who left legally. He said that it is just unfortunate that the remainder cannot be accounted for. According to data provided by the Ministry of Citizenship to the bipartisan parliamentary foreign relations committee, there are no departure records to show for some 7,255 of the 44,747 Cubans who arrived here in 2017. Also, of the 22,520 persons who came between January and April this year, some 6,170 have not departed through recognised ports of exit; neither have some 17,615 of the lot who came between 2013 to April 2018.

In the case of Haitians, the records show an increasing number of them arriving here, but not departing through established ports of entry and exit. Of the 3,515 who came in 2017, only 291 left, according to departure records. As for this year, between January and April, just 85 of the 1,238 who came officially left these shores. As a result of this, there are some 4,377 Haitians unaccounted for between 2017 and 2018.

Notwithstanding this, Minister Felix was quick to point out that it can be presumed that those who are unaccounted for through immigration records might have exited Guyana via “leakages”, in its porous borders to the south and east by way of Brazil and Suriname, respectively. Felix sought to remind that for years, efforts have been made to clamp down on the eastern border, but without success. “People can enter and leave from any backyard in the Corentyne,” the minister said, while noting that law- enforcement officials are only able to operate on land, given jurisdictional issues related to the Corentyne River. “In order not to aggravate the situation, we operate on land,” Felix said, adding:“For me to tell you that I can’t account for how the foreigners leave Guyana is partly true and partly untrue, because those two openings exist.”

He said that had those 4,377 Haitians who are unaccounted for through official means been in Guyana, they would have been easily identifiable, given their sheer numbers and the fact that they speak French. The minister, who was once a commissioner of police, expressed much disappointment with the utterances made by chair of the foreign relations committee, Gail Teixeira. Noting that Teixeira, who previously served as a home affairs minister, is aware of the challenges that exist vis-à-vis the country’s porous borders, Minister Felix said: “For Ms. Teixeira to be writing the way she did is extremely surprising. To me, she is crying wolf in a crowded cinema, and the only thing that would do is cause injury to those who want to escape the law.”