Cuban asylum seeker remains in jail awaiting his appeal

Jose Riba 

The Cuban vessel on the south side of Cayman Brac
Saturday morning. The boat had been hauled ashore
and its contents strewn along the beach. 

The debris of a long journey cut short lies on the
beach.

Friday,  October 21, 2005

The relative of a Cuban national who has requested asylum in the Cayman Islands said that his cousin’s case appears to have stalled.

Juan Guerra arrived with a group of ten men in April of this year. His initial request for asylum was turned down by the Immigration Department, but he has since appealed the decision.

Mr Guerra is being represented by James Austin-Smith, an attorney at Walkers. However, while waiting for his appeal, Mr Guerra has remained in Northward Prison.

“He is getting frustrated because nothing seems to be happening,” said his cousin Jose Riba, who lives in New York but came to the Cayman Islands in May with his mother Teresa Riba Guerra to visit Mr Guerra in jail.

Mr Riba said he spoke with a representative from the law firm a few weeks ago and was told that they are waiting for documents from the Government.

“At this point I do not know what other options we have but to wait,” he said. Juan is doing well but he does not understand what the hold up is. He still remains adamant that he does not want to return to Cuba.

“It is very tough on him right now because his mother has kidney problems in Cuba and she is really sick. He speaks to my mom about every two weeks and I have spoken to him a few times.

Mr Riba explained that every time Mr Guerra speaks with his aunt he gets very emotional. 

“My mother tries to make him stay positive,” said Mr Riba. “Juan spoke to his own mother by phone in Cuba and she told him to try and do everything possible not to return because if you do return your life will be in danger, she told him.

“Juan feels that he is not a criminal to be held in jail for such a long time. He is only searching for freedom,” he said.

Mr Riba added that his cousin is however very grateful for the medical treatment he is receiving while in jail in the Cayman Islands.

“My mother and Juan’s family here in the States are willing to be responsible for him. Why can’t the Cayman Government make it possible? ” he wanted to know.

He said that it was possible that they would return to the Cayman Islands to visit his cousin and that they were grateful for the attention that Mr Guerra has received though Cayman Net News.

“We are still hopeful for a positive decision in Juan’s case,” he said.

Cabinet Office Administrative Secretary Kim Bullings confirmed that no date has been set for Mr Guerra’s Appeal.

They were waiting for documents from the Immigration Department in order to hand them over to his lawyers, she said.

She said that once the attorneys had this information, they would be able to elaborate on the grounds for appeal for asylum. The appeal was filed in August, she noted.

Meanwhile, although the number of Cuban migrants reaching the Cayman Islands has slowed dramatically, several boats have arrived recently. Migrants must choose whether to continue without any help or to accept assistance and be detained for illegally landing in these Islands.

The most recent group to arrive washed up on the south side of Cayman Brac last Friday night, 14 October.

The migrants, nine men and one woman, were taken to Cayman Brac Police station, where they remained before being transported to Grand Cayman on Monday 17 October. It is believed that with Central Lockup full after a busy weekend, the Cubans were transported to jail.

On Saturday morning, 15 October, before their boat was removed by Public Works Department on Cayman Brac, its contents lay strewn over the beach.

Containers of gasoline, rubber tubes (often used as floats around the unsafe Cuban vessels), small bottles of water and clothes, apparently left to dry in the sun, lay on the rocky shoreline.

The reason for the end of their journey was apparent in the bottom of the boat – a large hole in the fiberglass.

No official report on the arrival of this group of Cubans had been released by press time Tuesday, despite many requests by Cayman Net News.

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