GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Aug 12 2015 – The Guyana government says 12 people, including six Haitians and two Russians, were intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) when they sought to enter the island illegally.
Citizenship Minister Winston Felix said immigration officers had also denied four Cubans and a Colombian from entering the country after they arrived here on a Copa Airline flight CM254 on Tuesday afternoon.
He said the foreigners did not have visas or money.
He told reporters that the Haitians had produced a letter purportedly issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Guyana granting them entry into the country.
But Felix said that immigration officers have informed him that the use of such letters by illegal migrants is common.
Haitians require visas to enter many Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries even though the French-speaking country is a member of the 15-member CARICOM grouping.
All six Haitians as well as the Colombian were deported and the Russian national was denied entry because she did not meet not meet immigration requirements. But her husband, who did, opted to leave Guyana with her.
