Barbados defends Guyanese 'deportations'
Barbadian authorities have said they are reviewing some of the cases of several Guyanese who were denied entry to Barbados on Tuesday.

Immigration officials have defended the deportations on several grounds.

BBC Caribbean reporter in Bridgetown, David Ellis, said: "the country's chief immigration officer Gilbert Greaves has categorically denied charges that his officers wantonly sent home a plane load of Guyanese."

Mr Greaves said the 35 Guyanese -of the 91 who arrived- were sent home for "valid reasons", such as: "minors attempting to join their parents who the records show are in Barbados illegally, people arriving without money, without sponsors and with no local addresses for where they're staying".

Our reporter also quotes Mr Greaves as saying some of those who were put back on a flight to Guyana were attempting to re-enter Barbados after having overstayed their visits on previous occasions.

Guyanese upset

Some of the Guyanese who were sent back home, have been venting their anger at what they describe as unfair treatment by the immigration officials.

One woman told BBC Caribbean radio she was denied entry despite presenting a letter showing her uncle in Barbados would be sponsoring her visit.

She said: "When we ask them for a phone call they deny us one, because my uncle was waiting on the outside...and that was it, they put us back on a plane."

One man said: "It wasn't nice treatment at all, they ask us if we bring drugs, they call us one at a time [and put us] back on the flight, everybody got treat bad."

Another woman said: "It was a terrible experience, the immigration authorities in Barbados kept harassing us. They didn't find anything on the passengers but they sent us back without any explanation."

Other Guyanese who said they were visiting to see family and attend the annual Crop Over carnival, gave similar accounts.

The Guyana government has responded angrily to the incident. Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Roger Luncheon, described the behaviour of the Barbados immigration authorities "inexplicable, reckless and cavalier".

"We deserve comprehensive answers to these actions by the Barbadian authorities," Mr Luncheon said.

Guyana feels the action does not bode well for the free movement initiative of the proposed Caricom Single Market and Economy.

Too many Guyanese?

There's some support among Barbadians for the decision of the immigration officials to send back the Guyanese.

Reporter David Ellis said:"There're many Barbadians who are concerned about the number of Guyanese that are working in Barbados especially at the level of domestics and in the construction sector."

He said, however, that the Barbadian government has stated that its agricultural sector would have been on the brink of collapse if it were not for the help of Guyanese workers living in the country.

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