(Barbados Nation) A Bridgetown magistrate has thrown his support behind immigration officers who attend court, saying lurid stories about treatment by officers of Guyanese do not apply to them.
Magistrate Christopher Birch made the comments as he dealt with an out-of-status non-national in the Bridge-town Traffic Court on Friday.
“There have been many stories appearing about immigration officers in the press recently,” the magistrate said.
“But I can speak for these immigration officers in court. These immigration officers have taken people to the bank, allowed them to close out their accounts, and allowed them to pack their bags,” the magistrate said.
He was speaking after attorney Desmond Sands asked the court to allow Guyanese Haslyn Harlynton Haynes to buy his ticket back to Guyana.
Haynes, 34, of Mount Friendship, St Barnabas, St Michael, was charged with assaulting Paulette Ingleton, occasioning her actual bodily harm on Wednesday. He appeared on Thursday and was remanded until Friday when Ingleton told the court that in the wake of making a report to police she no longer wanted to give any evidence against Haynes.
Sands then admitted that since Haynes was an illegal immigrant, “the only option is for him to go home.”
“I’m asking the court that Immigration allows him to purchase his own ticket,” Sands added.
Magistrate Birch noted that was his usual stance when he ordered that an illegal immigrant be put out of the island.
He dismissed the assault charge and turned Haynes over to immigration officials “for appropriate action.”
On Thursday, an immigration officer told the court that Haynes, a Guyanese, arrived here in 2008 and was granted temporary status.
When that status expired, said the immigration officer, Haynes did nothing to regularise it, so he no longer had any legal status here.
Guyanese illegal aliens continue to commit crimes in Barbados. His passport should be stamped “deported.” He shouldn’t be allowed to purchase his own ticket and be “removed.” Far from being inhumane, I think Bajans are being far too lenient with Guyanese who refuse to follow the laws of Barbados.
If there are Guyanese criminals committing crimes abroad, they are a disgrace and should be dealt with harshly.However, the Barbadian immigration authorities have shown not one, not two,but a triple measure of gleefully sustained incompetence, bungling,ineptitude,lack of foresight,for allowing illegal immigration to spiral out of control.
Caesar Agustus, you said, “the Barbadian immigration authorities have shown not one, not two, but a triple measure of gleefully sustained incompetence, bungling, ineptitude, lack of foresight, for allowing illegal immigration to spiral out of control.” If you replace the words “the Barbadian immigration authorities” with the words “the former Owen Arthur administration,” I would agree with you. Bajans rightfully replaced the Owen Arthur administration with the David Thompson administration to bring order to the immigration situation. Most Bajans are very pleased with the way PM Thompson and Bajan immigration officers are handling the illegal immigrant situation. You will find more Bajans like me who don’t think the immigration officers are tough enough on illegal immigrants than you will find Bajans who think they are “inhumane.” The way we look at things, and we look at things very differently from the way Guyanese look at things, is if Guyanese would simply follow our laws and leave the country when their work permits and airline tickets expire, they wouldn’t have any problems. We are strong believers in law and order, that is why you don’t see the bloody carnage that you see in Guyana and other countries in Barbados.
Caesar Augustus , your are blaming the wrong people , It was the former Prime Minister , Owen Arthur who boasted at a Caricom Heads-of-government meeting that he employed illegal guyanese to work at his home . It was the said PM who went after the immigration officers for carrying out their duties at the Airport , in relation to the processing of guyanese .
Bajegal.If we change the way we look things, the look of things will change.I am not any Guyanese looking at things. I am only one of them.I am also not comparing Barbados to Guyana via carnage,and I do not condone Guyanese breaking any laws of another nation.Conclusion, Guyana is of a composition entirely different from Barbados,with a totally different history,and situated in a different part of the world from Barbados.There are no comparisons.
bajegal, speak for yourself…all the Guyanese i know are nice people,
and haven’t committed any crime, most of them are hard working and nice.