A new group of cuban migrants He arrived in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday in a boat with 20 people on board, days after the director of border control of the Caribbean territory, Charles Clifford, announced measures to stop that flow.
The Customs and Border Control Service (CBC) of Cayman Islands reported that 12 of the occupants disembarked, while the remaining eight migrants remained on board.
Cayman Islands regulations require the arrest of any migrant who reaches land and the process of repatriation begins.
Local authorities reported that the 12 people who disembarked are being processed in accordance with the protocols established by the CBC and the regulations on COVID-19.
After the increase in the number of Cuban migrants who have arrived in the Cayman Islands since the beginning of this year, there are now 147 people in CBC custody awaiting deportation or asylum.
Fears of repeated strong migrations from Cuba have led local authorities to announce the implementation of a Mass Migration Contingency Plan, the details of which have not yet been revealed.
Cayman Islands authorities concerned about the arrival of Cuban migrants
Authorities in the Caribbean territory said all of the migrants appeared to be in good health, although a man who arrived on the second boat was treated by Emergency Medical Technicians from the Health Services Authority for a laceration to one of his feet.
Last year, the Cayman Islands government spent US$850,000 to care for Cuban migrants, although there are fears that a new wave could put even more severe pressure on local resources.
Fears remind us of what happened almost 30 years ago, when more than 2,000 rafters from Cuba reached neighboring islands in a short space of time.
Cubans who arrive in the Cayman Islands have the right to apply for refugee status and if this is denied after due process, they are repatriated to Cuba under the terms and schedule defined by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Caribbean territory and the Government of Havana.
The most recent MOU was signed in mid-April 2017, after several modifications following the overwhelming influx of Cubans in the early 1990s.
After the arrival, more than 1,000 Cubans were interned for a year in a refugee camp on the island of Grand Cayman.
