268 deportees in last 11 months
Major contributors to crime wave, say police
Stabroek News
October 21, 2002
Some 268 deportees have been sent back to Guyana over the last eleven months with over 70 having been convicted of violent or sex-related crimes.
Police Commissioner, Floyd McDonald, on Friday said Guyanese deported back home are making a significant contribution to the present spate of criminal activity.
These deportees he said were not only sent from North America and Europe but also from Cayenne, French Guiana and Suriname.
McDonald told a press conference hosted by Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, that the Police have arrested some of them and also have evidence of their involvement with local criminals in the commission of some of these crimes. Also based on the analysis of the types and sophistication of some of the crimes, the Police conclude that the deportees are an integral part of the problem facing society.
"Through intelligence we have identified persons who have participated in criminal activities with other local criminals. And we have also arrested persons who are deportees for their involvement in crime".
Additionally, McDonald said "some of the types of crime that we are seeing - violent crimes and the sophisticated nature of some of those crimes - based on our analysis we arrived at the conclusion that deportees are part of this problem that we are faced with".
However, the Commissioner said he was not in a position to say how many deportees had arrived here recently and the percentage of them that had been deported after convictions for violent crimes.
Based on releases from the Police about persons deported back to Guyana, Stabroek News has compiled a table, which shows that in the eleven-month period November 15, 2001 - October 16, 2002, 268 persons were deported back here.
Of these, the largest contingent came from the United States (207), followed by Canada (37), Barbados (8), Antigua (5) Cayenne (3), Trinidad (3) France (2), Puerto Rico (1), St Maarten (1) and the United Kingdom (1).
The largest number - 40 - were returned here in December followed by 38 in November, 28 so far this month (October), 26 in September, 22 in April, 20 in July, 19 in January, 18 each in March and June, 16 in August, 13 in May and 10 in February.
Between February - the month of the Mash Day jail-break - and the present time, 171 deportees returned to Guyana.
The largest numbers of deportees were returned here following convictions for possession of narcotics (73) for which 57 were sent back from the USA and 7 from Canada and 3 from Cayenne; trafficking in narcotics (62) for which 46 were returned from the USA and 10 from Canada; assault (30) for which 21 were sent back from the USA and 7 from Canada; robbery under arms (16) for which 14 had been sent back from the USA; robbery (15) for which 14 came from the USA; and larceny (14) for which 10 had been returned from the USA; possession of a firearm (7) all deported from the USA; attempted murder/murder (5) all of whom were deported from the USA; and discharging a firearm (2) for which both were returned from the USA. Eight were sent back for sexual assault and four for rape.
Following the September 11 attacks the US Justice Department stepped up pressure on the Guyana government to provide travel documents for its citizens awaiting deportation. It claimed that some had been waiting in excess of three years. In October it imposed a visa ban on government officials travelling to the United States and this was not lifted until the Guyana government had agreed to provide the requested documentation.
In the meanwhile, the two governments are still negotiating a memorandum of understanding setting out the assistance the US government is prepared to provide to help in the re-settlement of the deportees and in helping the government to monitor the activities of those considered dangerous.