The new US Ambassador to Guyana has lauded this country’s humanitarian efforts on behalf of fleeing Venezuelans and says Washington is prepared to have discussions on providing assistance, noting that the health sector is under stress.
With nearly 6,000 registered Venezuelan immigrants currently here, and the numbers climbing daily, Ambassador, Sarah-Ann Lynch, says Guyana has to carefully monitor the impact the migration may have locally, especially on employment and healthcare.
The healthcare sector is “something for Guyana to watch”, Lynch said on Monday during an interview with the four daily newspapers at the US Embassy, reasoning that many of the immigrants have not had access to proper healthcare services for years.
“Going forward, those systems might be stretched, particularly the health, education and people who want jobs. You don’t want them to be idle and not working. Those are some areas I think the government should give some thought to,” she also noted.
The policies of the socialist-led Nicholas Maduro government have led to the economic collapse of Guyana’s western neighbour from which thousands of Venezuelans continue to flee.
Lynch said that the last number of registered Venezuelan immigrants recorded here is around 5,800, but that number continues to climb. And given that the figure has almost doubled from six months ago, the country should be prepared to see an increase as time passes.
Late last month, Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, told this newspaper that it was difficult to estimate the number of registered Venezuelan migrants, as they are crossing over the border into Guyana more frequently. The last figure given, which was published in February, was 5,123.
According to Felix, quite a number of the migrants have been registered and quite a number are not registered.
Further, he noted that the migrants, when they cross the border, are seeking to travel to Georgetown. He stressed that government’s arrangement never intended that Venezuelans who crossed the borders into regions One and Seven should enter Georgetown and “that is one issue we have to address.”
According to Felix, quite a number of the migrants have been registered and quite a number are not registered. “When we find them, we take them to Ministry of Health for screening and having done that, they are released. So it’s registration then screening for health,” he said.
On March 20th, a total of 140 Venezuelan migrants were processed by the police after arriving in the city. And while about half were released into the care of acquaintances/relatives, the others are being accommodated at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.
The migrants arrived in Georgetown around 5am on the morning of March 20th, on the MV Barima, which departed Kumaka in Region One (Barima-Waini) the day before.
Indicator
The US Ambassador said that she believes that there is concern that this may continue and the numbers may continue to increase. “Additionally, in the past, the majority of Venezuelans have been on the border. But a few weeks ago, there was a vessel with about 140 Venezuelans that came right into Georgetown. So that is an indicator that maybe things are worsening a little bit,” she said.
Lynch explained that on a recent visit to the Corriverton, Berbice area, she spoke to a Venezuelan woman working in a restaurant and thought it was “interesting since I thought it was so far from the border”.
She said that the situation is not very serious currently but she understands government’s concerns.
She lauded Guyana’s humanitarian efforts, saying that the country opened its doors to persons seeking assistance without question. “I want to applaud the country for its generosity in accepting the Venezuelans without blinking an eye and I think that has been a tremendous help for those people,” she posited.
The Guyana government has not turned to the US for any assistance for treating the Venezuelan migrants and Lynch said that the U.S Embassy here would not shun discussions on tackling the situation.
“What I have offered, is that I am happy to have the embassy explore this issue and have additional conversations if they would like assistance. I know particularly the health area is being stressed because the Venezuelans coming into Guyana have not had decent health care in several years, so that might be a particular area.,” she noted.
But while there has not been any direct bilateral requests from Georgetown to Washington, the US envoy pointed out that her country has been providing assistance though organizations like UNICEF and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
“There has not been a request for that as yet but I have had some conversations with the government. The reason being is that the numbers are increasing of Venezuelan migrants here. The government estimates the numbers right now to be about 5,800, that is almost 6,000 and that number is almost double what it was six months ago,” she noted.
After decades of the Good Offices process under UN auspices failed to resolve the border controversy with Venezuela, Guyana on March 29, 2018, filed an application with the ICJ requesting that it confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 arbitral award settling the boundaries between British Guiana and Venezuela.
Lynch said that her mandate here is to deepen the bilateral partnership between the US and Guyana and as such, her country “respect[s] the decision that was made in 1899 regarding the border and we also respect the 2018 decision of the UN Secretary General to refer this issue to the ICJ”. The U.S will also “respect the ICJ’s decision,” she said.
“My understanding is that Guyana has complied and submitted all of the necessary paperwork for the ICJ to have a reading or sitting on that issue. I don’t know what the status is with Venezuela… We definitely respect those decisions,” she stated.
The US Ambassador reiterated the Donald Trump government’s position that it does not recognize Maduro as President, but Juan Guaidó, who had in January of this year declared himself President of Venezuela. The U.S will also continue to press Maduro to step down.
“The Maduro regime had a so called election in 2018. It was fraudulent and coercive, there was electoral rigging. The United States, as well as the other countries do not recognize the Maduro regime as legitimate. We recognize Juan Guaidó, the interim, as leader…so yes, there has been pressure … for Mr. Maduro to step aside and allow his country to be rebuilt and his citizens to regain their place in the region and to feed their families. These are basic needs that are not being met right now in Venezuela,” she said.
“Are we worried about Venezuela? Yes, I would say so, it has been a declining situation for years,” she added.
