Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amanza Walton-Desir reprimanded the government on Tuesday for its failure to address as a matter of urgency, a migration policy. The politician said such a document has gained increasing importance with the rising influx of Venezuelan migrants.
During her contribution to the 2024 budget debates, she said the administration is running away from doing real work on this front, while being consumed with painting the opposition as anti-Venezuelan.
“…We are not anti-Venezuelan or any other migrant,” Walton-Desir clarified. “We are pro law and order. I have said it before and I will say it again, no migrant, who comes here in keeping with our laws and whilst here, continues to abide by the laws of Guyana, will have nothing to fear from an APNU+AFC government,” the politician said.
Furthermore, Walton-Desir said it is apparent that the government does not see the crafting of a migration policy for Guyana as critical. She reminded that in February 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had launched a project to develop a migration profile for Guyana.
The opposition member said this project which would provide critical data for the formulation of a migration policy was slated to be concluded at the end of 2022. “We are now in 2024 and this critical project is languishing,” the politician said.
She assured nonetheless that the next APNU+AFC government will craft a sound migration policy for Guyana. Even which such a policy, the parliamentarian said the APNU+AFC will be unapologetic about putting Guyanese first. “The wealth of this land belongs first and foremost to every Guyanese man, woman and child and will take care of them first. We will be more than happy to share from the overflow with the rest of the world,” the parliamentarian concluded.
