Public Security Minster Khemraj Ramjattan is now raising his concerns over health and security risks associated with the influx of Venezuelan migrants who are coming into the country by crossing the border.
Speaking on the sidelines at an event on Tuesday, Ramjattan said that Guyana has been encountering challenges as a result of the influx of migrants, who are fleeing a social and economic crisis in their homeland.
“At our borders with Venezuela, which is an extremely long border, we are having our challenges there in relation to matters of health and security issues and in every way this could have been avoided in a sense if we had gotten the correct things happening in Venezuela as it is,” Ramjattan said.
However, he noted that despite this, Guyana is still obligated to ensure the needs of those persons are met.
As such he stated that Guyana would have to ensure that it exhausts efforts in keeping with humanitarian agreements and stretch health resources to provide services for those under privileged persons.
This, according, to him will in turn prevent illnesses from entering Guyana’s.
There has been a rapid increase in the number of Venezuelans fleeing their homeland in search of a better life.
The latest figures who that the number of migrants in Guyana stood at 5123, with most of them being housed in Region One, Bariman-Waini and some in Region Seven (Cuyuni Mazaruni).
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shadeo Persaud has already indicated that the inflow of Venezuelan migrants into Guyana has resulted in amplified initiatives by the Public Health Ministry to expand its vaccine programme, to reduce the possibility of a disease epidemic.
