CBC arrests 2 Cuban migrants

In the early hours of 30 April, the Cayman Islands Customs and Border Control Service carried out an operation at the Bodden Town Civic Center to locate two migrants who escaped lawful detention from the CBC Detention Center. The two migrants were arrested and are scheduled to appear in court for escaping lawful custody, the CBC advised.

This operation set off a demonstration by around 20 migrants who gathered in protest on the steps of the Government Administration Building on the same day. The situation was viewed as a security risk for people entering and exiting the Government Administration Building and so the migrants were warned to vacate from the front of the building.

CBC provides irregular migrants with accommodations, meals/food vouchers, personal toiletries in line with constitutional and international guidelines, and they receive medical attention and medications by the Health Services Authority if needed. The CBC stated the other migrants that are housed at the Bodden Town Civic Center are on temporary admission pending the determination of their applications for political asylum and are not currently detained.

CBC confirmed the majority of migrants that remain on island arrived prior to the legislative reforms which were introduced in December 2022.

“Those asylum cases are progressing through the Refugee Protection Appeals Tribunal process, with in a limited number of cases progressing to Judicial Review applications before the Grand Court, hence the delay in concluding the appeal cases,” a release stated.

CBC further confirmed that the majority of migrants arriving in Cayman thus far had been assessed as economic migrants which meant that they did not qualify for political asylum in the Cayman Islands.

“In such cases the legislative reforms which were introduced in 2022 allows the Director of CBC to certify such applications as wholly unfounded,” the release stated. “The repatriation process takes place within a couple of months of that determination. In the case of Cuban migrants, the repatriation process is conducted in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Cayman Islands and the Government of the Republic of Cuba.”