MADRID, Spain.- Between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, 50 irregular migrants from the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas were returned to Cuba by air. With this recent deportation, there are 3,238 Cubans who have returned to the country so far this year for being illegally in different countries of the region. Just as the number of operations of this type in 2023 reaches the figure of 61.
Of those deported this week, 44 came from the Bahamas and six from the Cayman Islands, specified the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), quoted by the official Cuban News Agency (ACN).
Two of the Cubans who arrived in this group “were on probation, for compliance with criminal sanctions, at the time of illegally leaving the country, for which reason they will be made available to the corresponding courts for the revocation of said benefit”, adds the information.
While another of the repatriates was circulated by the Cuban authorities due to an alleged crime that is under investigation. After his return to the Island he was arrested.
In its official note, MININT indicated that the Government of the Island maintains its commitment “with a migration regular, safe and orderly, while reiterating the danger and life-threatening conditions that illegal departures from the country by sea represent.”
Since October 1, 2022 (beginning of the current fiscal year) and to date, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has intercepted more than 6,200 Cuban rafters at sea.
According to data from Customs and Border Protection Department (CBP), last March 1,315 Cubans were processed at border points between Mexico and the United States, which represented an increase of 43 percent compared to February.
