Five Cuban nationals were on Thursday charged for illegal entry here and for breaching the Covid-19 restrictions that were placed on all ports of entry in the light of the Novel Coronavirus.
The nationals would have served 14 days in Quarantine and released on the basis of their COVID-19 test results. It is alleged that the Cubans entered Guyana sometime this month through the backtrack route at Corriverton, which continues to be a major concern for East Berbice Corentyne residents and the country as a whole, since scores of persons are being smuggled into Guyana illegally. Two days ago, 13 additional persons were intercepted at various roadblocks in Berbice and were arrested by the police.
On Thursday morning, the five nationals Amouri Roden Roboina, Yuriesqui Pena Luis, Yonisleydis Cedeno Blanco, Erneydys Rosriguez Gomez, appeared at the Springland’s Magistrates court before His worship, Alex Moore where the charges were read to them. The charges stated that on August 06th, 2020, the five Cuban nationals had entered Guyana from Suriname without the consent of an immigration office, as such they were all fined G$20,000 each and were immediately handed over to Immigration officials where they will be deported to their last port of entry.
Through a series of operations led by ranks in Berbice over 30 foreign nationals were arrested within the last two months following their illegal entry into the country via backtrack. Those who were arrested were all placed in institutional quarantine following their arrest.
Early August, 13 Cuban nationals arrived in Guyana, however, they were required to go through the necessary screening and were placed in quarantine while awaiting their test results. Days after when the results returned it was confirmed that eight of them were tested negative while five were tested positive for the virus. The five who were tested positive were placed in isolation. As such, they will be retested and then be handed over to immigration officials who will further investigate their illegalities and sort out deportation.
Recent reports have confirmed that boat operators are now using the backtrack operation to earn money from the foreign nationals by demanding US$100 and even more to smuggle persons into the country during the nights. “This thing has become a business for some persons. We have documents of persons making payments up to $US200 to be brought into Guyana. It is a serious cause for concern because it is our own Guyanese who are doing these things and putting others at risk. Up to the other day someone was bringing in 5 persons for US$500. If we as Guyanese can’t look out for ourselves, families and others especially kids and the elderly then how are we going to tackle this virus together to reduce the spread of the disease, said Regional Chairman, David Armogan.”
