Dear Editor,

THE government has expressed concern over the volume of transient migrants, surmising that a human trafficking ring is involved, with great justification. During the torturous 2020 pre and post-elections saga, there was ample evidence of the facilitation of human trafficking by leaders of an identified political configuration.

Allegations were rife that large sums were being expended from the nation’s coffers to facilitate travel, housing and support illegal aliens, and to provide them with Guyanese identity documents, such as birth certificates and national identity cards with Guyanese names.

A news item published on 14th November, 2020, headlined “Five in custody after 26 Haitians ‘discovered’ in suspected smuggling ring” related that twenty-six Haitian nationals were placed in protective care after police, during multiple operations, discovered them in a suspected smuggling racket at a city hotel, and a minibus on the Linden-Mabura Road. In protective care are 10 men, nine women, and seven children (two boys and five girls).

The children were proven not to be related to any of the adults in the party, which is alarming, as revelations are circulating worldwide of incidents of kidnapping of persons for body parts, as well as for the usual reasons persons, including children, are kidnapped, primarily as slave labourers and sex slaves.

Making one’s country an in-transit hub to facilitate incursions by human aliens into neighbouring countries goes against international protocols, and can create antipathetic reactions from the country being invaded.

For instance, the Government of Brazil has complained to the Government of Guyana about this country being used as a transshipment point for illegal aliens entering Brazil. Several incidents reported by the media of Suriname last year referenced a surge of Haitians entering Suriname illegally from Guyana.

The 26 Haitians had provided false information to immigration officials on their arrival in Guyana, which caused suspicion of human smuggling, so a deportation order was sought and granted by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court in December, 2020.

However, the Chief Justice, on December 3 last, issued a conservatory order halting the deportation of the 26 Haitians, in an action filed by Attorney Darren Wade against AG Anil Nandlall, contending that the order for deportation issued by the magistrate was arbitrary, and in violation of the fundamental rights of his clients.

After the Chief Justice issued the Conservatory Order, the Attorney-General informed her that their passports would be returned and they would be delivered to a location of their own choosing. This was done and within days they had disappeared, validating the Government’s contention that their movements were facilitated by a smuggling ring operating out of Guyana.
Subsequently, it was reported that Allandres Archer had withdrawn his name from representing the 26 Haitians.
It is important to note, as a matter of great significance, that the lawyer who went to great lengths to champion the cause of the 26 Haitians who breached Guyana’s immigration prerequisites is a staunch PNC member.

Yours very truly,
Todd A Morgan