A 33-year-old Haitian identified as Michelet Murat, on Wednesday appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore at the Number 51 Village Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded guilty to illegally entering the country.
According to police reports, Murat was arrested on June 28, 2021, for having arrived in Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an Immigration Officer. He was charged contrary to Section 34 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act, Chapter 14:02. Murat pleaded guilty, and was fined $15,000, or three weeks imprisonment.
The Government of Guyana had recently expressed concerns over Guyana being used as a trans-shipment point to facilitate migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
It is against this backdrop that of the 42,100 Haitian nationals who entered the country for the period 2015 to June 17, 2021, only some 3,913 have been registered as having legally departed these shores.