Twenty two Cuban refugees, man and women, who passed through the East End on Wednesday aboard their fiberglass vessel were forced to return on the cruise ship Thursday evening. The vessel was headed toward the Swan Island, Honduras. Immigration is currently processing the refugees who boarded the Carnival Legend in order to help the passenger who fell sick and ran out of fuel, thus becoming stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Officials inform that the migrants will be held in the detention center until the processing is completed. The Immigration Department, the Deputy Governor’s Office, the British Embassy in Havana, and the Cuban Government are in the process of working together in order to determine the identities of the 22 migrants. Under the law of the Cayman Island, the refugees do have the right to request an asylum which would allow them to stay on the territory of the Grand Cayman Islands. This would have to be processed on case-by-case basis with respect to the UNHCR’s Handbook for Determining Refugee Status, the once who do not qualify or do not wish to file for refugee status, would be returned to Cuba.
The protection of human rights across the world has gotten the Red Cross involved in covering the welfare of the refugees, thus covering their costs so far, as well as the Department of Children and Family Services has been contacted to provide clothing and food items to assist the needs of the refugees in promoting their well-being.
