A group of rafters who had left Cienfuegos heading to Mexico were returned to the island this Tuesday by the United States Coast Guard.
These are 13 irregular migrants – 10 men and three women – who had left the southern Cuban city on April 23 and were rescued on the high seas by a Mexican ship.
This ship then handed them over to the US Coast Guard, who returned them to the island, complying with bilateral immigration agreements.
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One of the returnees was on conditional release for compliance with criminal sanctions at the time of leaving the country and “will be placed at the disposal of the corresponding courts for the revocation of said benefit,” notes information from Latin Press (PL)which cites the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).
This Tuesday was the fourteenth operation to return rafters carried out this year by the North American Coast Guard through the port of Orozco, in Artemisa.
With this, there will be 37 returns from different countries in the region in 2024. In total, this year 520 Cuban migrants have already been repatriated through different means, it states. P.L..
In the official note, the Cuban authorities reiterate their “firm commitment” to a “safe and orderly” migration. In addition, they insist on warning of the danger and life-threatening conditions that illegal departures from the country represent.
The governments of Havana and Washington have a bilateral agreement so that all migrants who arrive by sea to US territory are deported to Cuba.
Deportation flights also resumed in April 2023, mainly for people considered “inadmissible” after being detained on the border with Mexico.
Some 22,946 Cubans arrived in the United States last January, according to a report from that country’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The CBP added that in four months of fiscal year 2024 – which began on October 1 – 86,139 Cuban migrants arrived in the United States.
In the last three years, Cuba has experienced an unprecedented migratory wave, both due to the volume of migrants and its temporal extension due to the serious economic crisis that the island is suffering, fueled by the impact of the pandemic, US sanctions, and internal difficulties and inefficiencies.
EFE / OnCuba
