By Robert A. Emmanuel
As the government continues to grapple with the aftermath of last week’s African boat disaster which saw around 16 persons either dead or presumed dead, a migration policy analyst said the desperation to reach the US mainland was a result of restrictive policies in Europe.
Observer media reached out to Senior Policy Analyst for the Caribbean at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Valerie Lacarte, who said an increase in migration has been seen with other migrant groups as well.
“When a country’s visa policies change, it can usually affect the way migrants travel as well as their choice of countries.
“For instance, Cuban migrants tend to fly to Nicaragua which has no visa requirements for them and from where they can avoid going through the Darien Gap [while] Haitians…tend to go through South America and trek back up north through the Darien Gap,” she explained.
The Darien Gap is a well known and extremely dangerous route for migrants seeking to enter the US through South and Central America, consisting of more than 60 miles of dense forest, dangerous animals and criminal groups.
Lacarte said while her organisation has limited knowledge of smuggling networks, these routes are often used as a complement to drug trafficking networks, such that the same actors are involved.
“Several countries in the Caribbean have been identified as lacking the institutionality to fight human smuggling,” she continued.
“The US State Department’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report designated Cuba, Curacao and Sint Maarten as Tier 3 countries, which is the highest designation which suggests countries are not making efforts to meet standards of Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).
“Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Haiti, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago are all on the Tier 2 Watch List and are at risk of moving to Tier 3.”
She also referenced a report written in 2021 by the MPI stating “the increase in African migration through the Americas comes as Europe has more forcefully impeded migrants’ passage across the Mediterranean”.
The report indicated that “potential migrants’ social networks have relayed success stories and information about routes through the Western Hemisphere”.
The policy analyst said that, last year, Cameroon ranked second for African nations that engage in migratory actions (17th overall) with Nigeria placing seventh (22nd overall).
Talking of a potential Caribbean route, she noted it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Africans taking a similar route like Haiti to the US.
For months, Africans who came to Antigua via Antigua Airways and another chartered airline have spoken about the island not being their final destination.
According to Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood, around 200 Africans have left the country legally since January. A final figure of how many Africans remain and how many left illegally prior to last week’s tragedy is unknown.
Africans have also been reported in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, which led to Caricom’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security recently issuing a warning to all regional governments.