mplementation of an unpublished agreement with the Government of the USA for the acceptance of third-country nationals is totally contrary to open and lawful governance, according to the GHRA.
In a statement on September 12th, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) said this behaviour is also in breach of the Constitution of Guyana and in conflict with national, regional and international human rights laws and policies.
GHRA said that an aspectof this issue receiving no attention at all is that Guyana hasa very progressive policy with respect to migrants.
It said that a decade ago when Guyana was flooded by refugees fleeing the chaos of the Maduro Government in Venezuela, a policy was inaugurated that all refugees would be accepted at ports of entry and given six months stamped on the Immigration form used for everyone entering Guyana. This policy, it said, risked millions of Venezuelans descending on Guyana. Fortunately, that did not happen, it said, and every migrant arriving at Charity or Bartica by boat had their immigration form stamped, received a medical check-up and, if children were involved, they were integrated into the education system. Work permits required a separate process.
“Avoidance of what could have been a chaotic process depended on a cohort of admirable civil servants in the Immigration and citizenship offices who managed this stressful problem with admirable aplomb. The GHRA can speak of this with some authority having been actively involved in the Venezuelan refugee settlement issues, language classes and other social support in partnership with the Catholic church in Guyana. The valiant work of the civil servants, despite the threat of being swamped by thousands of Venezuelans, never received the public acknowledgement it merited. How many of these experienced civil servants were involved in devising this new programme for deportees – which apparently took months to design?”, GHRA asked.
It said that the US deportee programme that Guyana is joining is not an isolated aberration.
“It is one dimension of a larger phenomenon which sees a division of the world’s population between those people needed and those with whom the USA can dispense. This is the goal of global transformation pursued by a very small, unaccountable group of immensely wealthy people and the political leaders they support”, the GHRA posited.
Whether Guyana’s involvement with the deportee programme turns out to be token or significant is not the issue but that this country is aligning itself with a “disreputable strategy it has neither the size nor the experience to influence”.
Discussion