Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn told reporters that a number of Venezuelans have found themselves in prison at the Ministry of Home Affair’s end-of-year press conference on Wednesday morning.
“We have 23 Venezuelans in the prison system ranging for various issues, such as illegal possession of firearms and murders, disorderly mainly”.
He described Venezuelans as the most rapidly expanding demographic in the prison population.
Benn revealed that there are some 28, 000 Venezuelan migrants in Guyana, with approximately 21,000 of them being registered.
The continued adverse conditions in Venezuela have resulted in an increase in the number of Venezuelan migrants in Guyana, even resulting in cases of remigration.
“Our work is cut out in dealing with the migrant situation from Venezuela and from other countries and supporting those persons who come, making sure they are vetted and identified for proper purposes and are supported in our country”, stated Benn. Double check this quote for accuracy
The Immigration Support Service is said to be a particularly active area, as there is an increase in the number of persons who want to become Guyanese citizens, by descent or naturalization.
Minister Benn stated that they have received 355 applications for naturalization and registration, and 633 for descent.