MADRID, Spain.- So far this year, a total of 2,830 people have been returned to Cuba from different countries when trying to emigrate irregularly.
According to the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), quoted by the Cuban News Agency (ACN)these Cubans have been repatriated in 48 operations, mainly from the United States, Mexico, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
The last deportation occurred this weekend, when the Bahamian authorities returned 32 migrants to the island through the José Martí international airport.
The group was made up of 29 men, two women and a child under the age of 10 who had left illegally by sea.
“The communication specifies that one of these people was transferred to the investigation bodies, for being allegedly responsible for serious criminal acts, which were being investigated before becoming involved in the illegal exit,” he said. ACN.
The official note points out “the danger and life-threatening conditions that illegal departures from the country by sea represent, and the irresponsible involvement of minors in these events.”
The serious economic crisis worsened in Cuba as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mismanagement of the Government, as well as the lack of basic freedoms and human rights violations, have prompted a migratory exodus unprecedented, especially towards the United States.
In 2022 alone, the US authorities intercepted more than 313,000 Cubans on the southern border with Mexico, which represents close to 3% of the island’s total population. The figure does not include the thousands of Cubans who left for other destinations like Mexico, Spain or South America.
Since October 1, 2022, the start of the 2023 US fiscal year, US Coast Guard crews have interdicted more than 5,700 Cubans, a number that could soon exceed the 6,182 that were detained in the entire previous fiscal year.
