Cubans repair boat but move on towards Honduras

| 28/02/2012

(CNS): A boat carrying 22 Cuban refugees was intercepted off the coast of Cayman Brac on Sunday night (26 February), the Department of Immigration has confirmed. Officials stated that 20 men and two women were aboard the vessel, which was spotted off Spot Bay around 6:50pm. The migrants, who originated in Manzanillo, Cuba, were informed by local authorities of the Cayman Islands’ immigration policies. The migrants requested, and were allowed, to perform minor repairs to their craft before they departed at about 11:15 that night, destined for Honduras, a government spokesperson said. Officials said that all 22 appeared to be in good health.

The refugees were monitored by immigration officers, and were last seen about 2:00am off the west end of Cayman Brac, travelling south-west.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Those who went through Ivan had a little taste of what desperation can be.   Those Cuban refugees must have lived through hell to risk their lives in a very small boat, travelling across a shark infested ocean and facing all sorts of other dangers.  We never know what we might face in the future, when we might be very grateful to someone for a drink of water or a crust of bread.  Even though its against the law, well done to those people in the Brac who helped the refugees.  As long as we have food and water and other supplies, we must not turn our backs on those in need – and that goes for those in need in our communities because I have seen more and more quite desperate people, who need our help.   I personally think its a disgrace that according to the law we should turn our backs on these people.  That definitely is an issue for the human rights commission.

     

     

  2. Anonymous says:

    Good luck!  Safe journey. 

  3. Anonymous says:

    "migrants requested, and were allowed, to perform minor repairs to their craft, a government spokesperson said, before they departed"

    Wow… this leaves room for more migrants to come, don't you think? 

    Cayman, is a repair shop.

    • Anonymous says:

      So do you think its cheaper to house them, give medical attention, three meals a day for months at a time and then have Cayman Airways chartered to fly them back?  Drinking water and a few gallons of fuel is a lot cheaper!!!

    • Castor says:

      My such Christian sentiment.

    • Just Commentin' says:

      My prayer to a Just God for you is that in the next big hurricane, your car breaks down somewhere in the tempest. You are being pummelled by the wind-blown debris and the flood tides are rising around you as you hunker down next to your disabled vehicle. Just as the situation could not be more desperate, the lights of a car pierce the  the darkness.

      Your salvation is nigh! You desperately flag the vehicle down.

      My dear friend, I pray they do stop…

      …but just long enough to say, "Sorry, dude, this is not a taxi." And they smile, wave and drive away.

      No, Cayman is not a repair shop. But there is always room for common human decency and treating the needy well is what decent people do; a lesson that somewhere in your sad life you missed. The Brackers who saw a need and filled it proved themselves to be decent people, but people like you are a big part of the reason that the Cayman Islands are gong to Hell in a handbasket.

      Bravo to those who did what was right!