Nine of 22 third-country nationals sent to Jamaica from US have departed
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith
Key Points(5)
- Nine of the 22 third-country nationals sent to Jamaica from the United States under a bilateral migration arrangement have left the island, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said Wednesday.
- Johnson Smith reiterated that the individuals were not criminals, rejecting concerns about the United States’ use of third-country national (TCN) agreements to transfer migrants to other countries.
- “So when the US says that under TCN agreements criminals are being sent, they are not including Jamaica,” Johnson Smith told a news conference.
- “Our arrangement does not agree to receive any criminals.
- They are vetted on the US side and they’re vetted on the Jamaica side before they enter Jamaica,” she said.
Nine of the 22 third-country nationals sent to Jamaica from the United States under a bilateral migration arrangement have left the island, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said Wednesday.
Johnson Smith reiterated that the individuals were not criminals, rejecting concerns about the United States’ use of third-country national (TCN) agreements to transfer migrants to other countries.
“So when the US says that under TCN agreements criminals are being sent, they are not including Jamaica,” Johnson Smith told a news conference.
“Our arrangement does not agree to receive any criminals. They are vetted on the US side and they’re vetted on the Jamaica side before they enter Jamaica,” she said.
The minister said the remaining individuals were at various stages of departure, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continuing to oversee their care and arrangements for onward travel.
A total of 22 third-country nationals arrived at Norman Manley International Airport on October 13 under the agreement between Jamaica and the United States. The group comprised 15 men and seven women from Ecuador and one European country. No children were among the arrivals.
Under the arrangement, Jamaica is expected to receive no more than 25 third-country nationals every two weeks. The programme is also to be suspended if 10 or more individuals seek to remain in Jamaica through asylum applications or other humanitarian processes.
The individuals were granted 90-day landing status while arrangements were made for their onward travel.
On Tuesday, Johnson Smith reported that one person had returned home, leaving 21 in Jamaica, including one who had requested to stay. Wednesday’s update confirmed that nine had now departed.
“There are countries which have agreed to receive criminals. They exist. When the United States speaks about sending criminals on the TCN agreements, they send them to those countries. Jamaica is not one of them,” Johnson Smith said.
She said Jamaica had negotiated safeguards to ensure that people transferred under the arrangement would not have criminal backgrounds beyond violations of US immigration law.
“What do I mean? I mean other than having broken the United States immigration laws, that is having legally entered the US, they are not criminals. Those are the persons who are sent to transit Jamaica,” she said.
