Government is looking to expand the Immigration Detention Centre to increase accommodation for Cuban asylum seekers and move them out of the Bodden Town Civic Centre, Deputy Premier Chris Saunders has said.
“We’re willing to find the resources necessary to offer that safe, humanitarian environment… for [the] Cubans,” Saunders said, as he addressed the issue of accommodation on the Cayman Compass talk show ‘The Resh Hour’ on Wednesday in its new 12pm slot.
His comments came as the Compass reported that at least a dozen Cuban nationals, living in rented accommodation, were rounded up and moved Monday evening, 27 Feb. into an overcrowded temporary shelter at Bodden Town Civic Centre.
The group had been living in the community, tracked by Customs and Border Control officials through electronic monitors, but were moved en masse to the community centre, a repurposed shelter for the Cubans.
Though he did not explicitly say that the CBC electronic-monitoring programme was ending, Saunders said government is working on getting the Cubans into the detention centre.
“At the end of the day… most of them have applied for asylum. We have a process that we have to go through, that is an international process. We have to look at each case differently,” he said.
The deputy premier, who is also the Minister for Customs and Border Control, said he understood the concerns raised by use of the civic centre, and that government is prioritising expanding the space at the detention centre.
“We’re trying to, as quickly as possible, get the detention centre up. The Bodden Town centre needs to go back to serve the community,” he said, adding that Bodden Town East MP Dwayne Seymour has been “passionate” about having the centre returned to the residents in the area.
He also pointed to concerns being raised about the proximity of the Cubans – about whose background not much is known – at the centre when community events, like a recent basketball game, are held.
“They have not been vetted. You don’t know who they are… some of them could be criminals fleeing Cuba… you always have to err on the side of caution,” he said.
However, he hastened to add that addressing the Cuban situation was a matter for the governor as items relating to foreign affairs and internal security fall within his remit under the Constitution.
Saunders also pointed to recent law changes that have expedited the asylum process and he said more changes are in the works to help address this situation.
He said while he feels for those who took the perilous sea journey from Cuba, there is a balance that must be struck.
“Our inbox at CBC is inundated with messages from people in Cuba asking, ‘Have you seen that person?’ or ‘Have you seen this person?’. And, at the end of the day, that is still somebody’s mother or father or… son or daughter. So there is a humanitarian issue that you have to look at, but then there’s also the safety and security issue of our people,” he said.
He explained that in Cuba military training is mandatory and that those making the journey could be carrying weapons for protection or trade.
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Send them all back and you don’t have anything to worry about! No building anything, no money needed, no housing needed! You don’t even know who they are! So unfair to others wanting to get residency there and these people just show up and you accommodate them, give them jobs and residency! What about those of us who have purchased land and want to build and retire on our PURCHASED land and we will have to leave and come back every 6 months and these people will get residency and stay! What is wrong with this government? We have made an investment withCayman! These people won’t invest in property or anything!