…Haitians
Once again, your Eyewitness raises his hands to the heavens and pleads with the powers-that-be to get a handle on this Haitian migrant-smuggling problem through our country. We just learnt that the 26 Haitians – including several children – who’d been housed at the Hugo Chavez Centre for Rehabilitation and Reintegration have now “disappeared”. Following massive protests from PNC elements, who callously tried to make the issue – as they do with everything – into a racial one, the 26 migrants had been released into a city hotel.
That this shows the Haitians mightn’t be remaining permanently in our country is beside the point. We note that, over in Suriname, there are almost a thousand Cubans trying to “pass through” on their way to the US, but have been prevented from so doing by the Suriname authorities, upon request by our Govt. The PNC didn’t cry “racism” for some obscure (?) reason, even when three of them who managed to get over were deported. What your Eyewitness is saying is: these incidents are only the first drops from a tsunami that’s waiting to wash over us; but, with our tiny population, will wash us away!
As our economy develops with the oil revenues soon to be absorbed into our developmental plans, these migrants will just decide that the grass is pretty green right here. This happened to Chile, where they also started out a trans-shipment point to Brazil, but now has a massive Haitian population, as does Brazil and French Guiana, where they form large slums.
We’ve pointed out that, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, “The Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, adopted by General Assembly resolution 55/25, entered into force on 28 January 2004. It deals with the growing problem of organized criminal groups who smuggle migrants, often at high risk to the migrants and at great profit for the offenders. This protocol aims at criminalising the smuggling of migrants, and requires countries to make migrant-smuggling a criminal offence under their national laws.”
What is so difficult to understand about this? It is clear that this Haitian migrant-smuggling is very highly organised by what we used to call “back trackers”. The Association of Haitians, which organized the reception etc, for the migrants, should be hauled before the courts to explain how the 26 persons they vouched for have disappeared. If they cannot show that these migrants were allowed into one of our surrounding countries legally, then it means they aided and abetted the commission of a crime, and they should be charged.
CJ (ag) Roxane George should pronounce on this matter also, since The Association of Haitians made themselves parties to the extant action.
…Ankoko
We scored a great victory on Friday when the World Court ruled it has jurisdiction to pronounce on the border controversy Venezuela’s been holding over our collective heads like the Sword of Damocles since 1962. As the Court asserted in its announcement, it doesn’t matter one iota that Venezuela have refused to participate in the matter. Venezuela can’t have their cake and eat it too. They accepted the authority of the UN to protect them from Trump, so they can’t reject the decision of the same body to hear our plea!
The Court will now proceed to deal with Venezuela’s claim that the 1999 Arbitral Award on our borders is “void” – even though they accepted it without qualification back then and for over 60 years! While we fully expect the Court will rule in our favour on the validity of the Award, we should know that we’ve also placed on the agenda the return of our half of Ankoko Island, which the Venezuelans seized in 1966.
Not a blade of grass! Not one spring curass!
…Sanctimonious Gangster
A lot of Guyanese have absorbed American Culture to such an extent that you’d believe we’re now in the temperate zone! Hoodies are now ubiquitous.
