Customs and Border Control officials say a search for two Cuban nationals who escaped custody from a George Town detention facility, were later located during an early morning raid at a civic centre in Bodden Town.
“The two [persons] were arrested and are scheduled to appear in court for escaping lawful custody,” said a CBC spokesperson, in a statement released Thursday, 2 May.
Some of the Cubans who were at the James Manoah Bodden Town Civic Centre during the CBC search on 30 April, and told the Compass about when they were jolted from their sleep shortly after 3:30am by officers demanding to see identification.
“They came in and started rushing everybody to the kitchen, and demanding that we show them our ID,” said Thomas Martin, a Cuban refugee who resides at the centre.
Martin added, “After they searched us, they arrested two persons and then left. No one knew what was happening or why it was happening.”
The pre-dawn search is said to have sparked a day-long demonstration Tuesday outside the Government Administration Building, where some two dozen people were protesting what they say were violations of their human rights.
The protest, which was largely peaceful, resulted in a third man being taken into custody by CBC officials, leaving many participants calling for an explanation.
“We need answers, this is not right – he did nothing,” one protester told the Compass an hour after the arrest.
“They acted like he was the leader who needed to be silenced, but he was simply a translator,” said another.
CBC has since clarified that the man was not arrested, but rather briefly taken into custody after officials revoked his ‘temporary admission’ into the community.
“The individual was informed that their Temporary Admission would be revoked and he would be taken into custody and this action was carried out,” said the CBC spokesperson, in an email to the Compass. “He was later released and granted Temporary Admission again.”
CBC has also stated that they sought to disperse the protestors for safety reasons.
“The situation was viewed as a security risk for persons entering and exiting the Government Administration Building,” said the spokesperson, adding that the refugees were “warned” to step away from the front of the building.
‘Untenable’ living conditions
In an interview with the Compass, several people who reside at the civic centre in Bodden Town said their living conditions have become untenable.
“There is no privacy, we live in cramped conditions with little to no cleaning or medical supplies,” said Martin. “But why this is worse is because they won’t let us work so we can provide for ourselves, and all they give us is food voucher for $160 per month to Foster’s.”
This has been the reality for one refugee who the Compass only knows as Miguel.
He arrived in Cayman in 2016; shortly after he began his process to seek asylum.
“I’ve been here since then and they have moved me from different locations, but you know how expensive things are in Cayman, no one can survive on $160 per month,” said Miguel.
He added, “At this stage, I just want back my passport. They can just send me to somewhere else like Mexico, because I’m living here like a prisoner.”
In their statement, CBC noted that they supply meals/food vouchers and personal toiletries, in accordance with the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, with medical attention and supplies provided under the guidance of the Health Services Authority.
The CBC has stressed that people are not being detained, they are being housed at available accommodations pending the outcome of their asylum applications.
In addition, the CBC spokesperson said the “majority” of Cubans arriving in Cayman have been determined to be economic refugees, “which means that they do not qualify for political asylum in the Cayman Islands”.
Legislative reforms introduced in 2022 allow the CBC director or designate to determine whether a refugee has fled Cuba for economic or political reasons and ultimately decide the likelihood of a successful asylum application.
Persons whose applications are viewed as “wholly unfounded” by the CBC are repatriated to Cuba in line with the memorandum of understanding between the two governments.
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