A flight with irregular migrants returned to Cuba from the United States arrived in Havana on Monday, according to official sources.
This is the first air operation of this type from US territory since December 2020, as confirmed the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).
In the flight they returned to the island 123 people “who had indistinctly reached North American territory through the land border with Mexico or by sea and were captured upon reaching the coasts of that country”, refers to the official note.
“The group is made up of 40 rafters and 83 detainees on the southern border. The majority are from Havana, Artemisa, Matanzas and Granma and had left in 2022, and some in 2019 and 2021”, points out the Ministry.
Of them, 83 left Cuba legally by air and “then became involved in irregular routes towards the southern border of the United States,” the information specifies.
The Cuban authorities explained that “d“Of those returned were on probation for compliance with criminal sanctions, at the time of illegally leaving the country, which will be made available to the corresponding courts for the revocation of said benefit.”
In addition, they detailed that “another was arrested because he was circulated by Cuban authorities as the alleged perpetrator of an act of international drug trafficking, which is being investigated.”
The Minint asserted that this flight “is the result of bilateral cooperation between Cuba and the United States on immigration matters.”
On this issue, authorities from both countries have held three meetings since last year, the last of which took place this month in Washington.
After that meeting, the Cuban Vice Foreign Minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, ratified in an interview with the agency PA Havana’s position to accept deportation flights for its nationals from the United States.
Cuba ratifies that it will accept deportation flights for its nationals from the United States
The diplomat then described the meeting as “a productive meeting” with officials from the United States Department of Homeland Security, since “we have a lot of common understanding, both parties, the United States and Cuba, about the nature of the problem.”
However, he said there was no agreement on the frequency of those flights, adding that there was no reason why they couldn’t return to pre-pandemic levels, meaning about twice a month.
Cuba has been experiencing a strong migratory wave for two years, especially to the United States, both by land and by sea.
So far in 2023, the US authorities “have made 37 returns by sea, to which is added this one through the José Martí International Airport in Havana,” reports the Minint. In total, this year 2,514 irregular migrants have already been returned from the United States.
Finally, the information indicates that from other countries in the region with which Cuba has migration agreements, 64 return operations have been carried out, in which 3,411 people have returned to the island.
