MIAMI, United States. – The United States returned 42 irregular migrants (29 men and 13 women) to the Island on a flight that arrived this Thursday at the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana.
According to a note from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) reproduced by official mediatwo of the migrants were transferred to the investigation body for having been identified as “alleged perpetrators of criminal acts before leaving the country.”
With this operation, there will be 91 returns from different countries in the region in 2024, with a total of 1,354 people repatriated to the Island.
Just one day earlier, on Wednesday, the United States Coast Guard returned to Cuba 43 people who had participated in two illegal departures, according to another note of the MININT.
The state agency Prensa Latina accurate that the group was made up of 34 men, seven women and two minors, who were returned to the Island through the port of Orozco, Bahía Honda, in the province of Artemisa.
The migrants had left the Island by sea and were intercepted by the United States Coast Guard.
Havana and Washington resumed deportation flights in April 2023, focused mainly on people considered “inadmissible” after being detained on the United States border with Mexico. In addition, they maintain a bilateral agreement that establishes that all migrants who arrive by sea to US territory will be returned to the Island.
Numerous groups of Cubans try to cross the Straits of Florida to escape the harsh conditions of life on the Island. In the midst of a context of shortages of food, medical supplies and a serious inflationary crisis, many residents of the largest of the Antilles risk their lives to reach the North American country.
Despite the current immigration crisis, due to which almost half a million Cubans have entered the United States in the last three years, the parole humanitarian program launched by the Biden Administration in January 2023 has contributed to reducing the flow of rafters.
Since the beginning of 2024, returns of Cubans have also been carried out through commercial flights from the Cayman Islands, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
