Gary willing to supply list of deported Guyanese By MIRANDA LA ROSE Thursday, December 25 2014 National Security Minister Gary Griffith says that he would be pleased to provide Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues- Birkett, with the list of 434 Guyanese nationals refused entry to TT, to date. “I would be pleased to give to the Guyana Foreign Affairs Minister a list of the individuals who have been denied entry because they have no money, they do not know where they are going to work, they do not know where they are going to live, they do not have any skill. Like that they would either become unemployed, abused by employers similar to indentured labourers, or turn to a life of crime,” Griffith said. Griffith noted that according to the Immigration Division, 434 Guyanese nationals were denied entry into TT for 2014 and not 265 as disclosed by Rodrigues-Birkett. On December 22, Rodrigues-Birkett expressed concern that over 265 Guyanese had been deported from TT for 2014 saying that it was not good for Caricom integration. She defended Guyanese travelling to TT saying that most of them were good law-abiding people. At her end of year press conference in Georgetown, Rodrigues-Birkett said that she has spoken with Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Dookeran about the issue. In a release, Griffith said the denial of entry of Guyanese nationals into TT, “is not a foreign affairs, or even a regional integration issue, but remains one of national security and law enforcement, that all countries in the region should subscribe to and enforce, especially in times of global narcotic trades and international terrorism.” In response to Rodrigues-Birkett’s concern that those denied entry were labelled as “deportees”, Griffith said persons denied entry were listed as “persons refused entry” and not deportees. The status of persons refused entry, he said, was different from those deported, since those denied entry may be allowed to enter once they comply with the immigration entry requirements. Those refused entry, he said, were different from the hundreds of foreign nationals, from various countries worldwide, who are deported annually for breaches of TT’s laws. According to Griffith, the Immigration Division refuses passengers seeking entry into TT for overstay on previous visit/s, a Watch List hit seeking re-entry, inconsistency in stated purpose of visit, no funds or insufficient funds, expired passport or no passport, passengers arriving with no return ticket, and no means to purchase a return ticket, no work permit or skills certificate. Persons who have been identified as belonging to the Prohibited classes (Section 8) of the Immigration Act, Chapter 18:01 are also refused entry. Statistics revealed recently by the Office of the Attorney General for the period 2010 to October 2014 show that a total of 734 persons were deported from Trinidad. spacer Click here to send your comments on this article to Newsdays Ch@tRoom spacer Print print spacer
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 14:27:33 +0000
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