While Cayman repatriated 16 male Cubans on a Cayman Airways charter flight, some 385 nationals currently on island have applied for asylum, Customs and Border Control confirmed.
CBC, in response to Cayman Compass queries on Thursday, said the 16 men who were repatriated were denied asylum and, as such, were returned to their home country.
At present, the CBC also said, there were no more Cubans being held on Cayman Brac, as the 20 nationals, who illegally landed there before and during the Christmas holidays, were transported to Grand Cayman via the special charter which was dispatched on Wednesday.
CBC said that, since 2022, a total of 28 Cubans have been repatriated and another 23 are due to undergo the same process.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Border Control and Labour Chris Saunders, commenting on the operations, pointed to further repatriation flights.
“I look forward to increasing numbers of repatriation flights in 2023 as we work to expedite the political asylum application process following the passage of the necessary legal amendments. While we collectively have sympathy for the migrants’ economic plight, the Cayman Islands simply cannot absorb these increasing numbers of migrants or afford the burdensome cost of their long-term residence and maintenance here,” Saunders said.
CBC officers, together with the help of Her Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service and Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman, the statement said, executed the two flight operations involving the Cubans on Wednesday.
Saunders thanked the officers, saying that, “these dedicated professionals have consistently stepped up to ensure we are both maintaining security and adhering to our international human rights obligations”.
Repatriation a multi-agency operation
CBC said the chartered Cayman Airways 737-8 departed from Grand Cayman at 9:58am arriving in Cuba at 10:36am with 16 Cuban nationals onboard on Wednesday.
The flight then departed from Cuba arriving in Cayman Brac at 12:19pm, collecting the 20 people there and then returning to Grand Cayman at 1:21pm.
CBC Director Charles Clifford thanked the prison and WORC personnel who assisted CBC officers with the “successful operations”.
“For security reasons, such operations require 2 trained officers to secure each passenger being transported. These operations are vital in managing the current migrant crisis these islands are facing. Additional repatriation flights will be arranged soon,” Clifford said.
The CBC explained the decision to move the Cubans from the Brac, saying resources on the Sister Islands are limited, therefore “it’s imperative for CBC to make arrangements for them to be transported to Grand Cayman for longer term management and processing”.
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