Latest update November 11th, 2024 1:00 AM
Mar 02, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
Kaieteur News – There is no hypocrisy concerning Guyana’s position on Haiti. This is a misinformed position that stems from the conclusion that while Guyana claims to be in solidarity with the people of Haiti, it had revoked the policy which allowed Haiti’s free movement to the country.
For the government of Guyana to be accused of hypocrisy for this is to indict also the overwhelming majority of Member States of the Caribbean. All but two Caribbean states require visa for Haitians.
In 2018, the Caribbean Community accepted a legal opinion, which argued that Haitian nationals were entitled, as members of the Caribbean Community, to a six-month automatic entry into other member states. In accordance with this decision, the APNU+AFC government moved quickly to issue an Immigration Order granting Haitians a six-month automatic entry.
Barbados and Dominica did the same. However, they have since reversed gear after facing a pushback at home.
In the case of Guyana, the pushback came from across the border. The Brazilians were concerned about the large movement of Haitians through Guyana and as part of a human trafficking ring. It was found for example that the majority of those coming into Guyana did not legally exit the country and it was found that most of them had gone to Brazil and French Guiana. In fact, a group of Haitians were found lost and wandering in the forests along the trail to Lethem.
The flood of Haitian immigrants has caused Brazil to engage the Guyana Government on the issue. The Brazilians had been exerting pressure on the Guyanese Government to stem the flow of illegal Haitian immigrants entering their country through Guyana. Many of these Haitian immigrants were using Guyana as a transit point to enter Brazil to seek employment or to go to other South American countries such as Chile. In Chile there is a significant Haitian community of around 200,000.
Haitians were also being trafficked to the United States. A large number of Haitians were in the massive migrant caravan to the USA last year. A UN report found that Haitians were paying as much as US$4, 500 per person to be trafficked to the USA overland and by sea. Guyana was also cited as part of a human trafficking route through corridors in Brazil and through Colombia. Mexican human trafficking cartels were believed to be involved in trafficking Haitians.
It was in response to this problem of human trafficking that the President of Guyana issued Order 9 of 2021 revoking the Immigration Order which had entitled Haitians to a six-month automatic entry into Guyana. This revocation Order was published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette of June 22, 2021. Haitians now require a visa to come to Guyana. They are not debarred.
Only two Caribbean states allow visa-free entry to Haitians. The policy of requiring visas for Haitians was explained by the then Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda.
Prime Minister Browne conceded that nationals of member states that are part of the regional single market are entitled to move freely across the Caribbean. However, he explained that CARICOM member states can take steps to prevent mass and illegal migration of Haitians to prevent the violation of immigration rules.
Mr. Browne said the issue has been raised with Haiti in the past. “That has been a vexing issue not necessarily in keeping with the Treaty requirements but we have to be pragmatic about these things.”
The CARICOM Chairman noted that member-states have had to take steps to curb the movement of Haitians especially by those who have violated the protocols but instead have been smuggled into various countries in the region. “It’s one thing to have the right to move but if you do not follow the administrative arrangements and the legal arrangements and you are smuggled into the country, then evidently steps have to be taken to protect the integrity of the receiving State,” he said.
One senior CARICOM official had indicated that there was illegal activity involving Haitians who under normal circumstances would be allowed “free access” to enter like other CARICOM nationals but there is growing evidence that they are being trafficked
Those who therefore attempt to describe the Guyana government’s actions towards Haiti as hypocritical need to avail themselves of a thorough understanding of the decision of the government. They can hardly condemn the Guyana government for its visa policy towards Haitians while excusing the rest of the Caribbean governments who have enacted similar policies.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)
Nov 11, 2024
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