THE new administration is keen on opening a Diplomatic Consulate in French Guiana. This was revealed during an interview on Wednesday with President David Granger by French Television Senior Journalist, Nicolas Pietrus. “I will ensure that there is a consulate in French Guiana to look after the interest of the Guyanese there,” the President told Pietrus.
It was noted that French Guiana has a large migrant population of Guyanese, and such a facility would help to service their needs and assist in the building of closer ties between the two nations.
On the issue of how long should an envoy spend at one mission, the President deemed “unacceptable” the habit in the past of serving for 22 or more years. Many countries rotate or change their diplomats every three or four years.
Foreign Minister, Mr Carl Greenidge has already indicated that those who were political appointees to the Foreign Service will be asked to step down.
With regards to the Diaspora and the Guyanese in general who reside overseas, President Granger said that while many left in the 1980s and 90s mainly because of economic reasons, he is optimistic that as Guyana begins to improve economically, this trend will be reversed. “I think they love their homeland, and I’m confident that they will like to make a better future for themselves and their children right here in Guyana; so they would return home. I expect migration to be reduced; the Diaspora will come home; they love their country,” he said.
The President was told of the negative perception French Guianese have of Guyanese, notwithstanding the fact that many of them are hardworking, law-abiding citizens. And his response was, “As with any community, you will find that the good people outnumber the bad people. We are aware that many fugitives from justice and many persons from poor economic conditions go to neighbouring countries to seek a better life. Some of them might be criminals, and we hope that when we establish a consulate, we’ll be able to ensure that persons who are identified as criminals in their homeland will be indentified to the authorities in Cayenne, and we will be able to extradite persons who are wanted for criminal offences.”
He made it clear that it is not his Government’s intention to export crime, but rather to offer protection to law-abiding citizens. “I am very confident,” he told Pietrus, “that in the long-term, you will be very confident of Guyanese who seek employment in your country. We have economic problems, and what you are seeing may be a consequence of that, but we are not a criminal State; we are not a rogue State.”
The question of whether or not he would support the efforts of French Guiana to become a member of CARICOM was met with a positive response from President Granger. He explained that while the Caribbean Community was launched initially with English-speaking countries, Haiti and Suriname, which are not English-speaking are now members.
The President said, “We feel that the Caribbean Community has as its objective the alleviation of poverty and the provision of a good life for all its citizens, so I would welcome the citizens of French Guiana; although it is the smallest of the Guianas, I would welcome it in to the Caribbean family.”(GINA)