Eight Cuban nationals who were adrift approximately 35 miles south of mainland Cuba have been returned to that country after intervention from Cayman’s Coast Guard and a crude-oil tanker from the UK.
The operation on 14 Dec. took place after the Coast Guard was contacted by the UK-flagged MV Hellespont Pride, advising that they had found eight Cubans adrift south of Cuba.
Responding to Compass questions, the Customs and Border Control agency confirmed that the captain of that vessel “did not inform CI Coast Guard of any requests for asylum”.
The operations and rescue coordination centre of the Coast Guard, the press release stated, contacted the Cuban Border Guard to ascertain whether they could meet the UK tanker to hand over the eight people.
Coordinated by the Coast Guard, the Cuban Border Guard arranged to meet the MV Hellespont Pride just outside of Cuban territorial waters, 13 miles from the port of Santiago de Cuba.
The Cuban nationals “were then transported back to Cuba”, the release said.
It comes after diplomatic talks were held earlier in December with the Cayman Islands government and a delegation from Cuba.
The talks, according to a press release from the Ministry of Border Control, included strategies “aiming for greater search and rescue coordination to save lives, shortening the time it takes to return migrants to Cuba and targeting of human smugglers for prosecution”.
This follows a presentation to Parliament of a bill by Border Control Minister Chris Saunders earlier this month to amend the law, seeking to take steps to speed up the processing of asylum applications and send unsuccessful refugee-status applicants back home faster.
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