On Sunday 12, 2023, fifteen Nationals of Haiti Arrived in Grenada on a flight from the neighbouring country of Trinidad and Tobago. The group is said to have comprised seven women and eight men between the ages of 20 and 40.
At a news conference on February 13, 2023, newly-elected Prime Minister Dickon Mitchel shared that the immigration officers during the execution of their duties determined that the Haitians would have been a charge to the public purse if they had been allowed to enter the country.
“They were denied entry to the island, they were not deported, so they were returned to Trinidad on Monday night which is the port of embarkation on the way to Grenada,” said Superintendent Leroy Joseph, Head of the Immigration Department. The Superintendent further noted that the Haitians at no point sought refugee status or political asylum.
The decision to deny entry was not taken lightly, noting Haiti is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, as there are very explicit and restricted grounds that can be used to prevent a CARICOM national from entering a member state, explained the Prime Minister. One such ground is whether the group is a charge on the public purse and the second is whether they pose a national security risk. In this case, it was the former.
The Prime Minister and Minister of National Security et al alluded that the Haitians at the port of entry were unable to demonstrate that they could afford to stay in a hotel for at least one night.
“If you don’t have cash or credit card that allows you to afford a hotel for one night, it means you don’t have a place to stay, and if you don’t have a place to stay and we let you into our community, what is going to happen [is that] we as a state will have to take care of you,” he said. Hence, the decision reflects the amount of cash in the possession of the would-be tourists when they arrived.
Just days after the determination, the political and economic situation in Haiti formed part of the discussions at the three-day CARICOM summit held in The Bahamas commencing Wednesday 15, February.
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