Prime Minister Gaston Browne says there is little point in allowing the Cameroonian migrants rescued from last month’s boat disaster in St Kitts back into Antigua.
“Why bring them back when they are likely to smuggle out of the country again,” he is quoted as saying in his newspaper.
Fourteen migrants, along with two Antiguans, were rescued after their boat capsized in St Kitts waters en route from Antigua to St Thomas, USVI, on March 28.
Browne’s comments confirm a statement from the St Kitts and Nevis government on Thursday that indicated that Antigua and Barbuda had reneged on its previous promise to accept the refugees back into the twin island nation.
“The government of St Kitts and Nevis continues to pursue workable and diplomatic solutions as it is duty bound so to do,” the statement from the neighbouring country’s Ministry of National Security added.
Meanwhile, all but one of nine people who fled the detention facility outside Basseterre on Thursday have since been located. One non-African remains at large, St Kitts police confirmed to Observer last night.
They were some of the survivors of fishing vessel La Belle Michelle, which ran into difficulty while dangerously overcrowded with around 30 passengers. Three bodies were plucked from the sea following the disaster, with around a dozen more still missing and presumed dead.
They were among hundreds of Cameroonian refugees fleeing conflict back home who arrived in Antigua late last year on charter flights from Nigeria.
