(EFE).- Cuba received a total of 136 irregular migrants returned by the United States Coast Guard Service (SGC) on January 18 and 20, and with them there are 1,188 rafters returned to the island so far this year, reported this Friday the Ministry of the Interior.
The majority of this group of migrants -121 men, 14 women and one minor- are residents of the central provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey who were intercepted by the SGC at sea when they were trying to reach the US from nine illegal exits, the report detailed.
Four of those recently returned are being investigated “for being allegedly guilty of serious criminal acts,” added the Cuban entity.
It also points out that, adding the Cubans returned by the authorities of the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, there are twelve return operations carried out from the three countries with a total of 1,333 irregular migrants so far in 2023.
In a previous report, the Ministry of the Interior said that on Sunday, January 8, “the largest return in recent years” occurred by the US Coast Guard with 273 people who “had participated in illegal departures from the country” through a port of Matanzas (west).
It also reported that in the first 13 days of 2023, 1,115 Cubans were repatriated from the United States, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. The majority -970 people- were rafters intercepted on the Florida coast.
The Ministry of the Interior reported that on Sunday, January 8, “the largest return in recent years” occurred by the US Coast Guard with 273 people
The Cuban authorities affirm that they maintain their commitment “with a regular, safe and orderly migration” and insist on “the danger and risk conditions for life that illegal departures from the country by sea represent.”
The government of The US implemented a policy to welcome 30,000 migrants earlier this year monthly from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In parallel, it will immediately expel migrants from those countries who try to cross into its territory irregularly to Mexico.
Mexico, for its part, agreed to admit 30,000 migrants a month who are expelled from US territory.
The Government of Washington has seen record numbers of migrants on its southern border in recent times trying to cross irregularly motivated, for the most part, by a new unprecedented migratory exodus from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
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