Fourteen deportees from the United States of America yesterday arrived in Guyana in what appeared to be a private jet and were quickly whisked away in two police buses after disembarking.

The United States government chartered the aircraft which had the identification number N198PA.

The 14 deportees who arrived yesterday are among 113 identified as Guyanese, and for whom travel documents had been sought by Washington. The Guyana government was slow in issuing the documents for the deportees and as a result a ban was placed by the US on the issuance of non-immigrant visas to government functionaries and their immediate families.

The US government would be using charter and commercial flights to send 113 deportees back here. A Government Information Agency (GINA) release said that one other deportee arrived yesterday on a commercial flight.

The chartered plane touched down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri at 2:40 pm and was greeted by a large number of law enforcement officers. The plane taxied right up to the shaded strip that leads into the airport terminal and two white police minibuses drove onto the tarmac to collect the deportees.

Stabroek News understands that ten persons including US law enforcement officers accompanied the deportees.

The men, who were dressed in civilian clothing, were not handcuffed when they disembarked the plane but it is believed that they were handcuffed during the flight.

At the airport, immigration officers questioned the men on the tarmac and were given their names. Sources say they also asked them whether they had any relatives living in Guyana.

This newspaper was told that the only luggage the deportees arrived with were `salt' bags which apparently had a few pieces of clothing in them and which had their individual names marked on them.



While the deportees were being questioned on the tarmac some curious onlookers congregated at the gate to get a glimpse of the men. The crowd also included some children and the buzz in the air was as if they were awaiting the arrival of a celebrity.

When the mini-buses exited the gate leading to the tarmac and the deportees saw the media cameras some of them attempted to hide their faces with their hands.

It is understood that the men were taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Eve Leary, where they would have gone through the normal procedure of photographing and fingerprinting before being released.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs release indicated on Monday that some of the 113 deportees were arriving on commercial flights on a regular basis. And in an attempt to put some Guyanese at ease, a GINA release on Monday quoted Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj as saying that there was no need for alarm as the crimes committed by the deportees and which resulted in their deportation - drug violations, rape, aggravated assault and possession of dangerous substances - were ones committed every day in Guyana and dealt with in the prescribed manner. He also stated that the police were equipped to deal with the inflow of deportees. Also that some of the men would be returning to relatives here. It has not been made public when more deportees would arrive. (Samantha Alleyne)