New Cuban arrivals seek asylum

New Cuban arrivals seek asylum
US vows no policy change on migrants
By: Tad Stoner | tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com 17 March, 2015

Washington will not change its "wet foot/dry foot" policy in the
foreseeable future, U.S. Embassy officials said Monday, countering
speculation among Cubans driving recent illegal emigration from the
island state.

Meanwhile, local officials said some of the 37 refugees who landed on
Cayman Brac at the weekend may seek political asylum.

"Some have given an indication that they would like to apply for
asylum," said Gary Wong, deputy chief immigration officer. He declined
to specify numbers, however, saying only "it is fewer than three or four."

"We have to be very careful about this," he warned. "If word gets back
to Cuba," it could spark further departures in greater numbers.

Speaking to the Cayman Compass, a senior U.S. embassy official in
Jamaica said January's twice-annual Havana-Washington migration talks,
staged in the Cuban capital this year, had addressed rampant rumors that
Washington was on the verge of ending its 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, and
attendant 1995 wet foot/dry foot policy – which allows any migrant
reaching U.S. shores to remain and, after one year and one day, to gain
a "green card," and apply for permanent residence.

Havana has long sought changes in the policy, which officials claim
drives illegal emigration from Cuba and illegal entry into the U.S.

The embassy spokesman told the Compass, "We don't anticipate a change in
that policy. We have been having these migration talks for multiple
years, and there will be no change to the policy."

At the weekend, a 37-person boatload – including eight women – of Cuban
migrants landed on Cayman Brac. The arrivals boosted to 44 the number of
illegal immigrants now detained at the 70-person-capacity Immigration
Reception Centre adjacent to HMS Fairbanks women's prison in Fairbanks
Road.

"All 44 are being processed accordingly," Mr. Wong said. "We will comply
with the [Memorandum of Understanding]."

The 10-point April 1999 Havana-George Town MOU details protocols for
processing refugees, including identification, detention and
repatriation. Asylum claimants are subject to a series of intensive
interviews as officials seek to separate "economic" migrants from
"political" migrants seeking shelter from persecution by Cuban authorities.

Between 2011 and late 2014, immigration authorities interviewed 115
claimants, peaking at 42 in 2013. Only one of the 115 was granted asylum.

In January, 88 Cubans passed through Cayman Brac, eclipsing 2014's 24
per month average and 2013's four per month. Since late January, more
than 75 Cuban migrants have passed through or landed on Cayman Brac, not
including last weekend's 37 arrivals.

Both Cuba and the Cayman islands have sought to amend the 1999 MOU, but
have been unable to set a date to complete the talks that started in the
autumn. Diplomats had initially hoped to complete negotiations by the
end of 2014, but unresolved issues and scheduling problems have
interfered.

"I haven't heard anything," Mr. Wong said of new discussions.

In late January, Director of the North America Department of Cuba's
Foreign Ministry Josefina Vidal – Cuba's chief negotiator in talks with
the U.S. – said local authorities had found multiple people with fake
documents seeking to touch base on American soil.

"Cuba," she said, "aspires to a normal relationship with the United
States in the broadest sense, but also in the area of migration," as
U.S. delegates pointed out that, despite President Barack Obama's Dec.
17 executive act, dramatically expanding U.S. contacts with Cuba, any
changes to the Cuban Adjustment Act and the wet foot/dry foot policy
required an act of Congress.

After the December announcement, however, illegal departures from Cuba
spiked significantly as human traffickers spread rumors of U.S. policy
changes, sparking new individual efforts to flee the country and
boosting prices for a boat off the island to between US$8,000 and
US$10,000.

Source: New Cuban arrivals seek asylum :: Cayman Compass -
http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2015/03/17/New-Cuban-arrivals-seek-asylum/