The Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee is expected to make recommendations to government about whether any changes should be made to the country’s policy on dealing with Cuban migrants.
Cuban migrants at the George Town dock earlier this month. Photo: Jewel Levy |
Education Minister Alden McLaughlin, who chairs the committee, said the subject was discussed last week at an HRC meeting and that a report on the issue is due out soon.
‘It’s a very difficult and complex situation,’ said Mr. McLaughlin at a Friday press briefing. ‘If government adopts a policy that we’re going to assist them, how far do we go?’
The problem of Cuban migrants in run-down boats washing up on Cayman Islands shores, or getting stranded in the coastal waterways, is nothing new. But earlier this month it was brought into sharp focus as a small craft carrying 11 migrants showed up at the George Town dock in broad daylight with thousands of visitors looking on.
Witnesses there said some tourists and local residents tried to help by bringing food and drink to the nine men and two women aboard.
In the end, nine of the Cubans chose to continue their journey. The other two were detained by Immigration officers for repatriation.
There is a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on 15 April, 1999 between the Cayman Islands and Cuba concerning how the islands handle repatriation of Cuban citizens.
Also, Cabinet passed regulations in January 2005 setting out guidelines on how migrants should be received.
Those guidelines state: ‘Cuban migrants must be advised by immigration officers that no assistance will be rendered, and that permission to land will not be granted for the purpose of repairing their vessels or receiving other assistance.’
Further, the regulations say no members of the press or the public ‘shall have access to the Cubans while they are being processed.’
However, the Cubans docked in George Town on 2 March received food, water and time to repair their foundering craft in what was an apparent direct violation of the 2005 policy.
‘There is a public sentiment, which is only natural in my view, to assist these people and that is counter to what the Memorandum of Understanding calls for,’ said Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts.
‘It is not something that the authorities are able to deal with by way of human emotions and things that would lead you to want to assist your fellow human beings.’
Mr. Tibbetts said the government has, in the past, been forced to make supplementary appropriations of some $4 million to $5 million to find housing and care for 1,200 Cubans who were stranded on the island.
‘The fear is that if it is known, once you land in the Cayman Islands, you will be able to get assistance….then we will simply have them coming here in droves, and physically we can’t handle that,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
Mr. McLaughlin said any proposed changes which might affect the current agreement with the Cuban government would need to be negotiated with the UK as well.
He also urged people living in Cayman who help Cuban migrants to consider the long-term effects of their actions.
‘When you assist people in an onward journey in vessels which are by-and-large unsafe, is that humane? Each and every person in this country who assists them to do so takes some responsibility for whether or not they live or die. Those are considerations that most people don’t want to face.’
In most cases Cuban migrants are seeking passage to Honduras, which does allow them into its country.
Those who don’t make it and are repatriated to Cuba from Cayman will often show up in local waters again.
‘(Immigration) has recorded some of the same individuals landing in the islands six or seven times,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
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