‘These are our people’ – Jagdeo says migrants from Venezuela are mostly Guyanese with entitlement to citizenship

The latest estimates indicate that there are over 30, 000 migrants from neighbouring Venezuela in Guyana.

And in addressing the large influx here, the country’s Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo explained that these persons are largely returning Guyanese and their children who are entitled to Guyanese citizenship.

According to Jagdeo, among those persons coming from Venezuela, fleeing economic and social hardships, just a few are actually Venezuelan migrants.

“These are our people.

“Based on our constitution, they are citizens eligible for citizenship,” Jagdeo told a press conference on Thursday at the Office of the President.

He made the comment in rebuke of statements from Opposition Parliamentarian Amanza Walton-Desir who recently criticized government’s efforts to ensure a long-term integration of migrants from Venezuela.

Jagdeo said it was found that while some of those persons were returning Guyanese who fled to Venezuela in the 1970s and 1980s, a large number is the offspring of those persons.

“We have to extend help to our own people when they come back here… these are our people,” Jagdeo added.

He rejected what he said was a “racist view” that the government should not help them because they are perceived to be foreigners.

Asked what data was informing his statements, the Vice President said government ministries and entities have been gathering information when services are offered to the migrants.

“When you talk to them… they take you back to their past and tell you about their grandmother and mother… we can trace a lot,” Jagdeo assured reporters.

“A significant majority are Guyanese,” he repeated.

The Guyana Government has maintained a position of being less concerned about deporting migrants and more interested in knowing who is here and what they are doing here.

The approach is one of extensive humanitarian aid with continuous efforts to ensure that these persons are captured in immigration records and then the provision of social services in the form of healthcare and education but beyond that, housing and employment.

Earlier this year, Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira said a quarter of those persons coming to Guyana from Venezuela are Guyanese, of Guyanese parentage or altogether Guyanese descendants.