Even as the Opposition and human rights groups in Guyana press for more information on the agreement that Guyana has signed with the US to accept third-country deportees, President Irfaan Ali has assured that Guyana maintains full control over the agreement with the United States. He is also assuring that Guyana could at anytime reject any of the persons that the United States wants to send its way under the agreement.

Just over a week ago, the Guyana Government announced that it had concluded a migration cooperation framework with the Government of the United States of America, which allows for Guyana to receive a limited, vetted number of skilled and non-criminal individuals who have been removed from the United States.

Appearing in an Al Jazeera television interview while on a visit to Qatar, President Ali said Guyana maintains full sovereignty over the agreement.

“I don’t see this as a precedent because we can reject and say that we are not accepting this, that has been taken away, the agreement is one in which Guyana has full control over what we accept,” the President said.

The President said he does not envision a situation where people are being forced into the country, admitting that while there could be some risk, it is not a situation where the country has no control.

“Everything in life has an element of risk, but we have the names before they come, we have our own vetting to our own satisfaction and then we agree with the names, this is not a situation where the U.S turns up with a plane and just throw people off on our shores,” the President stated.

Despite human rights concerns by the Guyana Human Rights Organization and other bodies, the President said Guyana has good human rights credentials and there is nothing to fear.

“We also have a lot of migrants coming into Guyana, right now they are coming from Venezuela, Cuba wherever, they get all the social services, without exception. Now the IOM is an important global organization and the IOM is part of this,” the President said.

Since the government announced the agreement, the Parliamentary Opposition and the Guyana Human Rights Association have been at the forefront of calls for the Government to release the full agreement and for its contents to be debated in the National Assembly.

The details of the agreement remain unknown.

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