By Kiana Wilburg
Involuntary re-migrants, otherwise known as deportees, are not greeted with open arms when they return to their homeland.
This is mainly due to the perception that they are a menace to society.
Guyana is no different. In fact, the nation is yet to establish a national deportation programme or master plan.
But one group is doing its part to help these returnees seamlessly reintegrate into a society that they have been culturally, socially, and economically disconnected from for years.
The Guyana Re-migrants Mission (GRM) has been helping returnees for years and is proud to state that to date, it has helped to reform over 150 involuntary re-migrants.
CEO of the non-profit organization, Marlus Hendricks said that he, along with seven other members, registered the entity two years ago, but prior to that, they have been executing works in that regard for almost 10 years.
“With this entity, we have been able to help a lot of people. But over the years, I have noticed that when we receive these involuntary re-migrants, as a nation, sometimes we fail to realize that they are people too.”
“They may have made terrible, terrible mistakes, but there is still hope for them; they can still be productive citizens if we help them with the transitioning process. I am of the firm belief that the reason why we still have problems with these returnees is because we fail them, the system fails them. We treat them as though they should be forsaken and that mentality has to change.”
The human rights activist said that he is proud that he has been able to help returnees find stable jobs in the areas of landscaping , interior designing, gold mining and even in helping some to open their own stores.
He opined that supporting this cause is of utmost importance to him, and his agency will always stand ready to protect the rights of the involuntary re-migrants.
“This cause is an important one to me, because I was also what one might call an involuntary re-migrant. However, I refer to myself as a voluntary re-migrant. I was a human rights case in the USA and I was told that I could either stay and fight it, or return.”
“When I chose to do the latter, adjusting to the environment here was difficult for me. Even though I had some family assistance that soon ceased and I had to fend for myself. So this is really important to me, because I want to show others that there is still hope and they still have a future and I am an example of that.”
While noting that his entity has a very comprehensive counseling programme for involuntary re-migrants, he noted that more needs to be done for those who return with mental issues. In this regard, Hendricks stressed that the Government must do its duty.
He said that the lack of effective care for returnees with mental health issues was also evident when he made a visit to the 20 involuntary re-migrants that were recently brought back to Guyana from the USA and stationed at Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary, under tight security for processing.
Kaieteur News understands that among those deported are persons who were convicted for murder, drug trafficking and drug smuggling, robbery, rape and other offences.
The CEO of GRM said that during his visit, the returnees were counseled on HIV treatment, the need for them to change their mental attitude and outlook of life, and the fact that there is still hope for them. He said that he also informed the deportees that counseling will always be available for them at GRM.
Hendricks added, “But what did surprise me is the fact that there seems to be no attention being paid to one of the returnees who has been extremely depressed and has been expressing suicidal tendencies. One of them is also suffering from schizophrenia.”
The 38-year-old said that since his return to Guyana, this individual has been cut off from the medication that he was receiving and it has been challenging for him to find similar help locally.
He noted however, “Relatives are seeing what can be done in the meantime to facilitate the overseas arrangement for the medication.
“We need a national strategy that will address how we handle and reintegrate these individuals into society. If we don’t, then we will continue to have them return, and fall victim to negative influences. In the end, we would have to take some responsibility, because we are not acting on this crisis that has been on our hands for decades.”
The human rights activist said, too, that the Government must also provide funding for organizations such as GRM.
“Most, if not all the time, we have to fund these ventures from our own pockets. We hold fund raising events and we ask citizens to help with whatever they can. But it is not easy. This is a good cause and we believe that the government should get on board with support us as well as other similar efforts.”
The CEO of GRM insists that the past government has failed this group of people and the new government must steer itself off of the same pathway.
“The good life must also be extended to the involuntary re-migrants; they must no longer be seen and treated as incapable of being reformed.”