Guyana investigates Suriname Coast Guard’s harassment of Indigenous Indians

Guyana has summoned Suriname’s Ambassador for talks amid reports that the Coast Guard in that neighbouring Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state has been harassing local fishermen and indigenous Indians who traditionally fish in the Corentyne River.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon said he also received reports that the Indians were being charged GUY$10,000 to fish in the river.

Harmon said the matter would be further addressed by Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge when he returns from a meeting in Ecuador.

“There are wider issues of the use of the river that we have to deal with so the question of Orealla and the Amerindian people is one aspect of how the Surinamese have been treating with that river,” he told the website.

Harmon said fishermen were being pulled in and their passports and identification cards demanded.

The State Minister said that it appears the economic situation in Suriname is behind the new situation and that the encounters between the Indigenous Indians and the Surinamese Coast Guard have been reported to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.