– Police said the men entered Guyana illegally via Suriname and were reportedly en route to Brazil
Alerted ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in ‘E’ Division (Linden/Kwakwani) have arrested five Haitians, who reportedly entered Guyana illegally.
According to reports, at about 23:00hrs Friday, ranks intercepted a vehicle at Wisroc junction in Wismar, Linden, in which the five adult male Haitians were found.
According to a statement from the Police Force, the men were detained after it was discovered that they had entered the country illegally via Suriname. The men were reportedly en route to neighbouring Brazil at the time of the interception.
Since the 2010 earthquake, thousands of Haitians began migrating to other countries in hopes of finding a new life. One of the places they found solace in was the Portugese-Speaking South American country, Brazil. In fact, last year the Brazilian government granted residency to almost 44,000 Haitians.
However, Brazil has been experiencing its own economic troubles of recent and this situation has resulted in hundreds of Haitians opting to move north – the United States of America.
But the traffic to the US is overwhelming and it has been reported that the US border officials lack space to temporarily hold hundreds of Haitian immigrants. Recent reports revealed that more than 900 Haitians are waiting to cross at Tijuana in Mexico, while some 500 illegal migrants arrived last week and are held in the Administrative Detention Center in Tapachula.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were reported as saying that for fiscal year 2016, between October 2015 and July 2016, 3538 Haitian migrants arrived illegally in the United States, over 3000 entered from San Ysidro, San Diego. Meanwhile, for fiscal year 2015, only 712 Haitians had attempted to enter the United States without legal documentation.
On the other hand, Reuters has reported that acting Haitian President Jocelerme Privert told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that Haiti’s October presidential election will be significant as the United States toughens its stance toward a wave of Haitian immigrants.
“The credibility of the upcoming election is vital to break with the cycle of instability and uncertainty which has beset my country for too long,” Privert said. He told the UN that the government was aware of the many Haitians leaving to seek a better life elsewhere and that the Caribbean nation would need more international support after the October 9 election.
“The new leaders will urgently need to address the structural problems which persistently undermine Haiti’s effort to move out of underdevelopment,” Privert told the UN Assembly.
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