‘We must have no ugliness towards Venezuelan migrants’ – Min Hamilton

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton has urged Guyanese to distance themselves from any feelings of ‘ugliness’ towards Venezuelan migrants living in Guyana, as tensions heighten in the ongoing border controversy.

Speaking during the Day of Patriotism and Nationalism Sensitisation session on the Venezuela border controversy at the Labour Ministry on Monday, Hamilton asserted that there is a moral obligation to offer assistance to those who seek refuge.

“We must have no ugliness perpetuated on people who come to this country…We have no beef with the people of Venezuela. I behove every Guyanese to throw away all those shackles, social and psychosocial antagonisms that keep you from going forward with this matter, the controversy with Venezuela,” he encouraged.

After the Golden Arrowhead was hoisted and soared in the Ministry’s compound, Minister Hamilton told the gathering of staffers that the issue of the border controversy must not come down to ethnic and political conversations. Instead, Guyanese citizens must project a unified voice.

“We should not allow and accept anything that isn’t unifying us, that isn’t seeking to bring together our Guyanese-ness. All our conversations surrounding this matter must be positive in nature. We cannot accept any negativity.”

Yet again, the Minister reminded of the importance of seeking information from the correct sources, in this case, the Government. He insisted that the public should steer clear of sources whose only role is to create chaos and gossip.

“The only group of people authorised to bring information to you on this matter is the Government of Guyana…I advise people, that when you want information, pay attention to the sources coming out of the Government. There are many amongst us, in and out of Guyana, every day they wake up in the morning and their role is to create chaos. I would say, stay away from those persons if you want proper information,” he indicated.

Hamilton further reminded that there are different categories of Venezuelans in Guyana: Guyanese who migrated decades ago and returned amid economic hardships, the children of Guyanese who migrated, and refugees fleeing in search of a better life.

Reports indicate that there are about 40,000 Venezuelan migrants residing in Guyana.

Despite the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela and the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Government of Guyana has taken a policy decision to offer humanitarian assistance to migrants fleeing from Venezuela.

Noteworthy is that a significant number are the Warraus, one of the Indigenous groups from Venezuela whose sister group of Warraus live in Guyana in Region One (Barima-Waini), close to the border. The Government has put on record that this group poses the greatest concern from a health and socio-economic perspective.

Guyana has also created a large shelter with water, and other facilities and land for farming over 200 migrants from Venezuela near the border with Venezuela. Moreover, it was noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, migrants from Venezuela and other migrants, have accessed all forms of food and sanitisation relief hampers distributed throughout the country to every household.

In Guyana, all children of migrants, legal and illegal, from Venezuela and other countries are allowed full access to be enrolled in the public school system within the host communities and benefit from Government-funded support programmes.

In an effort to stop Venezuela’s December 3 referendum aimed at annexing Guyana’s Essequibo territory, the Guyana Government presented its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by urging the Court to not only protect Guyana’s rights but also its own authority which Venezuela is trying to undermine.

The Court was also informed of Venezuela’s mobilisation of its military on the border with Guyana. Meanwhile, Guyana’s legal arguments were presented by Attorneys-at-Law Paul Reichler and Professor Emeritus of the University of Paris Nanterre, Allain Pellet. Reichler laid out not only the harm that Venezuela’s referendum would cause but also laid bare Venezuela’s efforts to prejudice the case.

The lawyer told the court of the tragic fate that awaits Guyana should Venezuela be allowed to go forward and act on the inevitable results of the referendum.

Guyana is seeking a final and binding judgement to reinforce that the 1899 Arbitral Award remains valid and binding on all parties, as well as legal affirmation that Guyana’s Essequibo region, which contains much of the country’s natural resources, belongs to Guyana and not Venezuela. (G-12)