– To contribute to deportees’ reintegration
Guyana has signed a cooperation agreement which allows for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to implement immigration programmes in Guyana, starting in August, in areas such as capacity building, advisory services and technical cooperation on migration issues.

Government has identified the Ministry of Home Affairs as the focal point for this initiative which was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Regional Representative of the IOM, Richard Scott.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Regional Representative of IOM sign the agreement to implement immigration programmes in Guyana. Also in the photo is Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.

The establishment of the IOM office in Guyana will facilitate the implementation of the “Reintegration of the Returned Migrants Project”, proposed by the IOM in response to the request for assistance made by CARICOM leaders during a meeting in 2007 with former United States President, George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Minister Rodrigues-Birkett explained that the objective of the project is to “contribute to the long-term reintegration of returnees from the United States, by equipping them to become productive members of society with a view to mitigating the potential of their resorting to criminal activity.”

The Foreign Affairs Minister disclosed that discussions were held between the IOM teams that visited Guyana and the Ministries of Home Affairs and Labour, Human Services and Social Security.

Also present at the signing was Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, who noted that addressing the flow of deportees is a top priority for many countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Government, along with other CARICOM countries, has been calling for the US to work with them to address the issue of proper re-integration programmes for deportees from the U.S.

Minister Rohee said the deviant behaviour of most deportees is a product of the environment in which they have resided, and these countries therefore have the moral responsibility for their rehabilitation. He noted that many deportees, particularly those without relatives in Guyana, find difficulty reintegrating into the Guyanese society and thus become a social burden to the state, as well as prime targets for recruitment by organised criminal gangs.

“Many deportees to Guyana have no roots in the country or have been ostracised by relatives. It is therefore incumbent upon government to find appropriate living facilities while working assiduously to reintegrate them into society,” he added.

The collaboration with the IOM will assist with establishing a permanent intake centre which will serve as a temporary residential facility for the deportees, and provide them with adequate social and financial assistance to successfully reintegrate into society.

Since the project has the potential of mitigating some of the social impacts of deportation of criminal offenders, Minister Rohee said, “Government is of the view that there is still need for Guyana and the US to work more closely on immigration security issues in a manner respectful of national laws and services capacity, while being sensitive to the effects of human displacement.”

Regional Representative for IOM, Richard Scott, explained that the programme is a pilot which is financed by the U.S. If successful, he said, it will be extended beyond a year.

He disclosed that the programme is expected to be implemented in Guyana in August. It was recently implemented in the Bahamas and is based on a similar project in Haiti.

The abundance of deported Guyanese led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2005 between the two governments, providing for a Procedural Framework for the return of citizens.

The eight-part MOU addresses issues pertaining to travel documents for deportees and lists the procedures for making requests or presentation for travel documents for criminal aliens. It also caters for deportees to access their assets in the US by way of a power of attorney. (GINA)