U.S. sends 119 Cuban migrants dwelling as rising quantity take to sea

A Cuban migrant exhibits her toes embellished with the flags of Cuba (L) and the USA at a brief shelter in a college within the city of La Cruz, Costa Rica, close to the border with Nicaragua, November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate/File Photograph

HAVANA, Jan 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard mentioned late on Tuesday it had returned 119 Cuban migrants to their island dwelling after choosing them up at sea, marking a rising pattern of migration by water from the poor, communist-run nation to its rich northern neighbor.

The migrants, swept up in 12 operations that occurred over simply three days within the South Florida Straits from the Bahamas to the Florida Keys, had been present in boats adrift offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard mentioned in a press release.

Cuban state media mentioned Tuesday’s repatriation was the biggest in 4 years. Footage from the docks on Cuba’s north shore confirmed masked well being employees clad in white receiving the migrants, who had been delivered by boat by U.S. authorities.

A rising group of migrants are attempting their luck at sea in latest months as Cuba’s financial system is battered by mounting U.S. sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hobbled worldwide tourism important for international alternate on the Caribbean island.

The damaging crossing, difficult by swift ocean currents, relentless solar and wind and shoddy vessels, has claimed the lives of many Cubans over a long time.

Coast Guard figures present 586 Cuban migrants have tried to illegally migrate to the USA within the first three months of fiscal yr 2022 alone, a far quicker clip than in 2021, when the Coast Guard repatriated 838 Cubans all yr.

The variety of Cubans arriving on the U.S.-Mexico border additionally hit its highest in a decade between October 2020 and Might 2021, in keeping with U.S. immigration statistics, as many Cubans flip to overland routes to aim to enter the USA. read more

Cuba says it advocates authorized, orderly and secure migration, and has blamed the USA for the uptick in unlawful migration, saying the nation’s insurance policies, together with the Chilly Conflict-era embargo, encourage Cubans to danger their lives to go away the island.

U.S. Secretary of the Division of Homeland Safety Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned final yr following unprecedented protests in Cuba that Cubans leaving the island “is not going to come to the USA.”

Reporting by Anett Rios and Dave Sherwood; enhancing by Barbara Lewis

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