“Having agreed publicly to support the Government as it relates to the protection of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, it was anticipated that the Government and Opposition would work in a united fashion to deal with the Venezuela threat.” So said the A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) at a press conference held yesterday.
Veteran trade unionist Lincoln Lewis , in his Eye on Guyana Column, had expressed concern over what he described as the Opposition providing supporting on the border issue without forcing President Irfaan Ali to the table to discuss and address concerns the Opposition has in governance and the welfare of the nation and the Guyanese people.
According to Lewis, who is General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the “Leader of the Opposition seems not to know, understand or be able to use the power his office rightfully wields to effectively present himself as a major force to be reckoned with, not just a tool for People’s Progressive Party (PPP) convenience when it comes to defence of Guyana’s border.”
Influx of Venezuelan refugees
The conference which was co-haired by AFC Leader and Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan and APNU Chairman and Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton said they believe there are several critical issues pertaining to the Venezuela/Guyana controversy that need to be addressed.
The coalition pointed to concern over the “continued influx into Guyana of refugees from Venezuela and the PPP government’s inept and treacherous response to the situation.”
The number of Venezuelan refugees in Guyana is estimated around 35,000 and it i feared the number may be higher.
Noting the influx of Venezuelan has reached crisis proportion the Opposition stated the situation is now a threat to Guyana’s national security and territorial integrity.
Most of these refugees, according to the Opposition, now reside in in the sparely populated Hinterland Region.
“Should they become a majority in any sizeable area of our territory, Guyana could face the threat of possible annexation of these areas by Venezuela, similar to the fate of Crimea, which was seized by Russia in March 2014 on the grounds that the majority of the population there is made up of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers.”
Journalist Adam Harris in his column, The Adam Harris Notebook stated in Region One Venezuelans outnumbered Guyanese.
The Opposition warned the influx and uncontrolled integration of refugees can also facilitate the placement of fifth columnists and operatives into key government, military, and leadership positions both at the local and national levels, and thus achieve a “soft invasion” of the country, with far-reaching implications to our security, independence, and nationhood.
Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Amanza Walton-Desir in a statement yesterday called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd to convene a Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations to brief members on the developments with regards to the border controversy case before the International Court of Jurist (ICJ). According to Walton-Desir the controversy and the migrant crisis are critical issues of the border controversy and the escalating Venezuelan migrant crisis that demands our immediate attention.
Threat to nationality and electoral integrity
Another concern of the Opposition is the threat to nationality and electoral integrity.
“We have repeatedly expressed our deep concerns over the possibility and reality of the PPP seeking to register refugees as electors. That threat also confronts our country today. In this regard, let us recap a few critical developments:
“In August 2021, the PPP/C Administration passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, which became Act No. 9 of 2021. Particularly, this Act introduced into our laws a deceptively harmless provision which the PPP/C Government said was intended to simplify the requirements for obtaining a Guyana Birth Certificate.
Section 44 A, one of the new sections inserted into the law, outlines the process by which an adult who has no documentation whatsoever may acquire a Guyana birth certificate on the basis alone of:
(i) A declaration in a prescribed form signed by a person of high standing in the community including a community leader or Toshao; or
(ii) A declaration under the Statutory interpretation Act by a person of high standing in the community including a community leader or Toshao. This declaration is to be signed by a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner of Oaths and the declaration must state the particulars of the birth of a person.
Going further the Opposition noted “law (effectively) provides a means for any person to be registered as a born Guyanese, without the need to provide proper evidence that they were indeed born in Guyana. Furthermore, any person, once armed with a Guyana birth certificate and over 14 years of age, now becomes entitled to be listed in the National Register of Registrants – from which the Voters List is extracted.”
Slackness and danger
This is slackness, the Opposition warned, when compared to the much tighter requirements in other countries.
Citing the Trinidad and Tobago situation as an example, it was noted “a person seeking a birth certificate is required to provide documentary proof, such as a letter from the hospital where they were born, an immunization card, names of siblings, or a record from the school they attended – all documents that a genuine applicant already has or can readily obtain.
“We raised the alarm then that the PPP intended to effect thousands of birth registrations, particularly in those far-flung hinterland regions, using an established network of PPP/C aligned Justices of the Peace, Toshaos, and Notaries Public.”
This danger the Opposition pointed out is compounded by the fact that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) now conducts office-based registration without verification of residence, as the PPP has also removed the residency requirement from the Registration Act (ROPA).
“Guyanese must be aware that the registration of births and deaths is a critical component of our election integrity and national security. The adding of persons to a register who are not legitimately entitled undermines the integrity of the population, and can lead to anomalies in the allocation of resources and voting and representation.”
Wanting to ensure their position is not misrepresented the Opposition drew clear a distinction between the registration of refugees for administrative purposes (which is necessary) and their registration for citizenship, the latter of which they oppose.
Core principles on the rights of refugees
Outlining their core principles on the rights of refugees the “Opposition wishes to reiterate that despite these deep concerns, we remain committed to the comfortable settlement of these economic refugees in our homeland – as a demonstration of our typical Guyanese hospitality and our full compliance with our international humanitarian obligations to refugees.
“The UN Convention of Refugees, under which Guyana is obligated to accept refugees, spells out clearly that they are entitled to such rights as to employment, education, health care, internal travel, and housing. International law, however, makes a clear distinction between migrants and refugees. In particular, there is no obligation for States to grant political rights to refugees. Each nation has to assess its own particular circumstances.”
In the case of Guyana, the Opposition advised “our circumstances are exacerbated by the incompetence and ploys of the PPP/C administration, as well as by the fact that our country’s borders are extremely porous, our system of immigration and border control is lax, and government lacks the ability and interest to determine who is crossing our borders out of real economic necessity.”
According to Ramjattan and Norton the time is long past for a national conversation on refugees, on their treatment and their path to Guyanese citizenship. Unless decisive action is taken, Guyanese will find that their country faces serious threats to its security and sovereignty without a gunshot fired in anger or any military action they warned. “In the two years remaining in its tenure, the PPP needs to act before the situation gets worse.”
