— Minister Benn

HAITIANS who have been stranded in Barbados since February were found to have fake identities and government will not be allowing them entry into Guyana.
This is according to Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, who was at the time responding to questions from reporters on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SEACOP V on cooperation against illicit maritime trade, on Friday.
“Their bona fides (documents) are fake and that simply means that they have not applied based on the information we have seen so far, and we have not been approached by any person who has been representing them directly,” he said.
He explained that the documents in the Haitians’ possession are identification cards for Brazil, which are illegal, “and there are also other documents which we have seen which are fake and we are working with the Barbadian authorities in relation to other aspects of this activity which have been ongoing for a while.”
Minister Benn said the documents in his possession are sufficient for the position he has taken.
According to immigration data provided to the Guyana Chronicle, for the period 2015 to June 17, 2021, there has been an unusually large influx of Haitians who have entered Guyana but failed to leave, at least through the requisite legal channels.
The statistics highlight that of the 42,100 arrivals of Haitians for the stated period, some 38,187 of them cannot be accounted for. Only 3,913 have been registered to have legally departed the shores of Guyana.
The data shows that from 2015 to 2020, there was a steep and continuous annual increase of Haitians arriving in the country.
In 2015, there were some 770 arrivals, while 2016 saw 772, which quickly escalated to 3,515 in 2017, then to 6,165 in 2018 and 20,261 in 2019. The year 2020 saw 9,239 entries and as of June 17, 2021, there have been some 1,378.
However, the departure data for the stated period when compared with the arrival data is staggering.
In 2015, only 136 of the Haitians departed, while in 2016 some 451 departed. In 2017, there were some 291 departures; 2018 saw 456 and 2019, 1,697. In 2020, there were some 717 departures and as of June 17, 2021, there were some 165.
On February 28, 2021, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested 26 Haitians and one Cuban, who entered Bom Fim illegally via Guyana’s borders.
Government has imposed visa restrictions on Haitians to prevent Guyana being used as a transshipment point for human smuggling.