Six Cuban and Afghan nationals arrived in Guyana on Saturday under a migration agreement with the US. Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said the one-year arrangement does not provide permanent resettlement. The government says the International Organization for Migration will handle housing and support, while Guyana retains discretion to review and reject proposed transfers. Those received will await immigration decisions in the country.
Guyana received six Cuban and Afghan nationals deported from the US on Saturday. Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said the agreement runs for one year and does not constitute permanent resettlement. According to Persaud, those arriving were deported over immigration issues and none had criminal backgrounds. He also said Washington had made no further requests at that point to send additional people to Guyana.[1], [2]
Those received will await the outcome of their immigration cases in Guyana. The government said the International Organization for Migration would handle reception, housing and support. Assistance will come through its Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. The government also said it retains discretion to review and reject people proposed for transfer by the US. Its statement described reception as temporary, linking the stay to the pending immigration process without offering permanent resettlement.[1], [2]
Guyana’s government said people transferred to the country should retain the right to seek international protection where applicable. It set out that condition in its statement on receiving people while they await decisions on their immigration status in Guyana. Human rights groups oppose US deportations to countries other than the migrants’ own as punitive. Amnesty International counts more than 30 such agreements since Trump returned to office, including 15 in the Americas.[2], [1]
