Fifteen foreign nationals were on Tuesday fined a total of $900,000 and were ordered deported after admitting to illegally entering Guyana by way of Springlands, Corentyne.
Eleven Sri Lankans and four Bangladeshis were separately arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in Court 1 of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday and charged with entering Guyana without the consent of an immigration officer.
The Police Prosecutor first told the court that the Bangladeshi nationals
were stopped at the Kurupukari checkpoint by immigration officials as they were travelling by bus en route to Lethem on March 8.
Upon investigating, the ranks noticed that the persons in question did not have an entry stamp in their passport. Further investigations revealed that they came from Suriname and entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without first submitting themselves to an immigration officer. The four pleaded guilty to the charge when it was translated to them.
The other 11 foreign nationals, who are Sri Lankans, were found without entry stamps while en route to Lethem on March 9. When asked why they didn’t submit themselves to an immigration officer upon entering the country, attorney Adrian Thompson explained that their initial plan was to submit themselves to an immigration officer so that they could legally go over to Brazil, which is believed to be their final destination. However, the driver of the minibus decided to go in another direction.
The Chief Magistrate fined the four Bangladeshis $60,000 each with an alternative of two weeks imprisonment, in spite of the plea by the defence to lessen the fine. They were also ordered to be transported to a port of exit and to return to Suriname where they are legally supposed to be. The eleven Sri Lankans were also each fined $60,000 or two weeks imprisonment and ordered to do same.
