Over 2000 Guyanese successfully remigrated over last 5 years – Todd

…trades barbs with Opposition’s Walton-Desir over international credibility

As part of efforts to tap into the vast expertise and resources within the Guyanese diaspora, the Government has facilitated the successful remigration of more than 2,000 overseas-based Guyanese citizens over the last five years.
This was revealed by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd on Wednesday evening as he delivered his presentation to the ongoing debates on Budget 2026 in the National Assembly.

The Dr Irfaan Ali-led People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration has positioned diaspora engagement as a critical part of its development agenda and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is tasked with connecting members of the Guyanese diaspora with what is happening across various sectors in the country.
“So far, between 2020 and 2025, we’ve assisted approximately 2,162 Guyanese who have successfully re-migrated to Guyana, and that is a part of our development agenda because, as you’re aware…His Excellency, the President would also like to tap into the human capital that can actually return to Guyana and to be a good fit in areas where we may have a need for their level of competency,” Minister Todd explained.
In addition to expertise, the Guyana Government is also looking to tap into the resources of Guyanese living overseas. According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, several overseas-based Guyanese business owners are returning, moving capital and/or expanding their businesses here or even partnering with companies in Guyana.
“So, it’s doing a lot for us in terms of creating employment and helping to build out our economy. So, we’re very focused, Mr. Speaker, on ensuring that we remain connected to the diaspora, remain engaging with the diaspora and to ensure that that connection can lead to a return, reintegration and allowing those diaspora to enjoy building out Guyana,” Todd posited.
In fact, during the 2020 to 2025 period, the Guyana Government, through the various embassies and consulate offices, had engaged approximately 3,000 residents from the diaspora in Suriname, the United States, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago.
To further facilitate similar diaspora engagements this year, the Ministry has allocated some $35 million in Budget 2026. According to Todd, they are working on a roadmap that will see not just overseas visits to meet with the Diaspora, but also increased webinars and conferences to gage the level and areas of interest by those persons living overseas as well as to help them seamlessly re-migrate to Guyana.

Passports processing
Moreover, the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry has also made it easier for members of the Guyanese diaspora to return home through enhanced efficiency at the overseas consulate offices especially with regards to passport services.
As a matter of fact, over the last five years, approximately 17,000 Guyanese passports have been processed for persons living in the diaspora and according to Minister Todd, they plan to ramp up this process in order to allow more persons to travel back to Guyana.
“We are attracting a lot of our returning Guyanese and if we’re going to be able to support our returning Guyanese through the diaspora engagement, then being able to facilitate travel documents and other instruments are very important for us. So, we’re taking that role also very seriously…and we have been very effective even more so now because we have a new technology in issuing of the passports.”
“And for those persons who may not have had or renewed their passports for many decades, in some cases decades, we want to ensure that they can have their passports because for them, that is, bringing their identity back and giving them an opportunity to return home even for visit because as you’re aware…His Excellency, the President is very focused in having more traffic, not only from outside the Diaspora but also from within the Diaspora,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, during his presentation the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister used the opportunity to respond to Opposition Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton-Desir, whose party – Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) – copped one seat in the National Assembly.
During her contributions to the budget debates, Walton-Desir, who had served as an MP for APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) in the last Parliament before breaking ranks and contesting the 2025 elections independently, had criticised the PPP/C’s Foreign Policy agenda, stating that diplomacy nor foreign postings are not “jobs for the boys.”

Inclusive
But Minister Todd was quick to point out that unlike the action of the former APNU+Alliance For Change Coalition regime, which fired all the Foreign Service Officers upon its assumption to office in 2015, the PPP/C still maintains some of the Coalition postings including Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, Halim Majeed.
Additionally, former Executive of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) – the leading party in the APNU Coalition, and Government Minister under the Coalition, Dr Richard Van West Charles, who is also the son-in-law of PNC’s founder Forbes Burnham, is currently serving as Guyana’s Ambassador to neighbouring Venezuela.
In fact, the Foreign Affairs Minister added that even on the ministry’s Advisory Committee on Borders has members who are politically-aligned to other parties including the PNC.
“We are inclusive… And when it comes to our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we are bipartisan,” Todd declared.
He added that, “We, on this side of the house, do not discriminate when it comes to our sovereignty and our territorial integrity. We’re all embracing and all-encompassing when it comes to our sovereignty and our territorial integrity.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister also hit back at Walton Desir, who had called for Guyana to build its credibility and legitimacy on the global stage.
But Todd reminded the Opposition Parliamentarian that she was once part of a political party that attempted to subvert the will of the Guyanese people before the entire international community.
“The Honourable Member represented a political party that…did not want to go to an early election after a vote of no confidence was passed successfully in the Parliament back in December 2018. And the Honourable Member has the face to come in front of the people of this country and to talk about credibility and to talk about representing Guyana when they do not respect democracy, democratic principles, the will of the people, and understanding that governments come and go.”
“But we on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, as a political party in government, we have given true representation to the people of this country. We have done it to the extent that we are visible, we are credible, we are well respected, and we are sought after globally in every sphere,” Minister Todd declared.