Gov’t must come clean on this pact with US for third-country nationals

Guyana, US reach deal on 'limited' ... of third country nationals ... sent here - Kiskadee Watch ... of third country ... being sent here ... Guyana and the United States today announced that they had reached a deal on a “limited” number of vetted, skilled and non-criminal individuals being sent here from the US. ... Under the arrangement, Guyana retains “full discretion” to review and reject any individual proposed for relocation, and the United States will bear the full cost of the relocation process. ... IOM, the UN Migration Agency, will be responsible for the operational ... , the statement said ... “IOM will cover the ... of receiving, ... and supporting individuals relocated to Guyana, and will provide the services needed for their ... including access to communication with legal representatives and ... members. The Government of Guyana will ... bear the financial cost of the programme ... and IOM has ... it will not assume ... any of the Government’s responsibilities ... admission, legal ... The Trump administration has aggressively pushed CARICOM countries to accept persons it wants removed from the United States. A joint statement follows: ... GUYANA AND UNITED STATES FINALISE MIGRATION COOPERATION FRAMEWORK; GOVERNMENT REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH ... The Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana confirms the conclusion of a migration cooperation framework with the Government of the United States of America, under which Guyana will receive a limited, vetted number of skilled and non-criminal individuals through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. As part of the framework, Guyana retains full discretion to review and reject any individual proposed for relocation, and the United States will bear the full cost of the relocation process. The Government intends to accept only individuals who have chosen relocation to Guyana of their own volition. ... IOM, the UN Migration Agency, will be responsible for the operational implementation of the programme. IOM will cover the costs of receiving, housing and supporting individuals relocated to Guyana, and will provide the services needed for their integration, including access to communication with legal representatives and family members. The Government of Guyana will not bear the financial cost of the programme, and IOM has confirmed it will not assume, and this arrangement will not transfer to it, any of the Government’s responsibilities concerning admission, legal stay, protection or removal. ... President Irfaan Ali’s Government has framed the arrangement as an extension of Guyana’s longstanding commitment to human rights and international cooperation. The Government insisted that individuals relocated to Guyana must retain the right to seek international protection where applicable, and the IOM will support the referral of such cases to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in coordination with the relevant Guyanese authorities. The Government has also confirmed regular, effective and sufficiently private access to communication with legal representatives and family members. ... The arrangement is temporary in nature and does not constitute permanent resettlement. Individuals relocated to Guyana under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme do so voluntarily and will await the outcome of their immigration status determination while in Guyana. Depending on the outcome, individuals will either return to their country of origin or relocate elsewhere of their choosing. Their presence in Guyana is governed by a set of pre-defined terms rather than open-ended residency. ... President Irfaan ... ’s Government across energy, trade, investment, security and diplomatic cooperation. It reflects the strength and maturity ... ’s standing ... a trusted and

Guyana agreed to accept US third-country deportees despite no refugee treaty status — Standing Record November 25, 2025 # Guyana agreed to accept US third-country deportees despite no refugee treaty status ... Guyana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a diplomatic note dated November 25, 2025, expressing willingness to accept third-country nationals deported from the United States, retaining complete discretion over individual transfers. Guyana is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and has no domestic asylum legislation, leaving people transferred there — particularly those previously granted U.S. protection from removal — without the legal backstop that treaty accession would otherwise provide. ... Location : United States; destination Guyana (Georgetown) ... On November 25, 2025, Guyana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation sent a diplomatic note (No. 1649/2025) to the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown expressing its willingness to consider accepting the transfer of third-country nationals from the United States. The note states Guyana would retain "complete discretion to accept or reject the transfer of any given individual" and assures the U.S. that transferred individuals would be treated consistently with the Convention Against Torture, the principle of nonrefoulement, and Guyana's domestic laws — without committing to any specific numeric cap, cost-sharing arrangement, or implementation timeline. ... Guyana is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and has no national asylum legislation, and UNHCR maintains only a reduced presence in the country. That leaves the note's assurances — including its promise not to further transfer anyone to a country where they would face persecution or torture — resting on Guyana's own domestic discretion rather than binding treaty obligations, a gap of particular concern for anyone previously granted U.S. withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection. As of this filing, no transfers to Guyana under the arrangement have been publicly confirmed; Guyana's government has said it would consider admitting only migrants without criminal records who have skills matching labor shortages in its oil-driven economy. ... A government's assurance that it will not persecute or torture people transferred to it carries less legal weight when that government has never bound itself to the international refugee framework that would make such assurances enforceable. Guyana signed its diplomatic note agreeing to accept U.S. deportees on November 25, 2025 without being a party to the Refugee Convention or its Protocol — meaning the safeguards a transferred person could ordinarily invoke largely depend on Guyana's own unilateral, revocable word. ##

Guyana nearing pact with US to accept third country nationals – Foreign Secretary - Stabroek News ... The governments of Guyana and the United States are nearing an agreement for this country to receive third country nationals who are either refugees or non-felons, with Georgetown having the right to refuse any of those proposed. ... “We have been in productive discussions on a framework of understanding which is consistent with our national priorities and needs and supportive of the USA objectives… these discussions are ongoing,” Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted. ... Sources told Stabroek News that a deal could soon be reached. ... A source explained that in Guyana’s case, the ... coming here would be ... felons who have chosen to come, of their own volition, having ... given by the ... , a list of countries to ... they did not want to return to their home state. The ... also be given for the persons ... their home countries ... “It is not a case where they are being forced on us. The onus is on the Government of Guyana to accept or not accept those persons,” a source explained. ... Under the planned agreement, the United States will stand the costs of the relocation of the persons. ... Last year February, President Irfaan Ali had told Stabroek News that Guyana had informed the United States that it will accept all of its deported Guyanese citizens and while no commitments have been made to accept third country nationals here, discussions were ongoing with Washington on President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration. ... “In our discussion with Washington, of course the issue of deportation, in keeping with the new US policy, was a topic for discussion. We made very clear that Guyana is ready to accept all its citizens, if they are to be deported. We will accept all our citizens. Of course part of the discussion also was in our partnership, our alliance to see how and what kind of support we can have between the two states in the exercise that is ongoing in the US,” Ali had said. ... “… I don’t know anything about imprisonment or imprisonment camps. Nothing to do with that was discussed. It is about how we can support the efforts of the US, and we have said also that Guyana is a close friend and ally of the US and will work closely with them. We did not go into details on any specificity on the matter. No specificity about settlement or anything like that was brought up,” he added. ... Ali had at the time been asked about a CBS report which said that sources had told that media entity that a plan being mulled by the Trump administration to use Guyana as a location for third country deportations. ... “The Trump administration has pushed more deportation agreements, though it’s unclear how many more arrangements will be agreed to. One plan that had been considered would have sent third-country nationals to the South American nation of Guyana, two US officials told CBS News, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media,” CBS reported.