Guyana receives six deportees from the United States as part of the voluntary return program

Guyana's Foreign Minister, Robert Persad, said that the group, which includes citizens of Cuba and Afghanistan, arrived in the country on Friday, after its members underwent a vetting process by the authorities, which confirmed that they had no criminal record.

Persad explained that the reasons for deporting these six from the United States are mainly related to immigration violations and issues, noting that the agreement between Washington and his country came after negotiations that lasted several months.

The minister added, in statements to the Associated Press*, that the United States has not yet submitted any additional requests to deport people to Guyana. According to the agreement, the country will host the deportees for a year, provided that the residency will be temporary and not a step towards permanent settlement.

Deportees in Guyana under the “Assisted Voluntary Return” program will undergo procedures to determine their legal and immigration status. Depending on the results of these procedures, some of them may return to their countries of origin or be transferred to other countries.

The authorities in Guyana reported that the United Nations International Organization for Migration would implement the program, stressing that the government would not bear the costs of housing or providing support to the deportees.

Guyana, a founding member of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, joins a number of countries in the region that have begun receiving limited groups of deportees from the United States.

The list of other countries that have agreed to receive deportees includes Saint Kitts, Nevis and Belize, while Saint Lucia was scheduled to receive the first group of deportees this week, according to officials.