GUYANA | Opposition calls Venezuela's "soft invasion" of Essequibo a national security threat

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, October 18, 2023 - Guyana's Opposition "A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)"  have expressed serious concern over what they have described as a possible  "soft invasion" of the Essequibo Region over which Venezuela which has claimed sovereignty and is now being adjudicated before the International Court of Justice.

The Opposition is lamenting that "having agreed publicly to support the Government as it relates to the protection of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, it was anticipated that the Government and Opposition would work in a united fashion to deal with the Venezuela threat.”

However the Coalition "A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)"  told a press conference yesterday that this is not the case.

“ “Should these “refugees” become a majority in any sizeable area of our territory, Guyana could face the threat of possible annexation of these areas by Venezuela, similar to the fate of Crimea ”

The press conference which was co-chaired by AFC Leader, Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan and APNU Chairman and Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton, said they believe there are several critical issues pertaining to the Venezuela/Guyana controversy that need to be addressed.

The coalition said they were concerned over the “continued influx into Guyana of "refugees" from Venezuela and what it said was "the PPP government’s inept and treacherous response to the situation.”

The number of Venezuelan refugees in Guyana is estimated around 35,000 and it is feared the number may be higher.

Noting that the influx of Venezuelan into Guyana had reached crisis proportions, the Opposition stated the situation is now a threat to Guyana’s national security and territorial integrity.

Most of these refugees, according to the Opposition, now reside in in the sparcely populated hinterland Region.

“Should they become a majority in any sizeable area of our territory, Guyana could face the threat of possible annexation of these areas by Venezuela, similar to the fate of Crimea, which was seized by Russia in March 2014 on the grounds that the majority of the population there is made up of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers,” the Coalition lamented.

In fact, Journalist Adam Harris in his column, The Adam Harris Notebook,  last week stated in Region One Venezuelans out numbered Guyanese.

Veteran trade unionist Lincoln Lewis , in his Eye on Guyana Column, had expressed concern over what he described as the Opposition providing support to the government on the border issue, without forcing President Irfaan Ali to the table to discuss and address Opposition concerns as it relates to governance and the welfare of the Guyanese people.

According to Lewis, who is General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the “Leader of the Opposition seems not to know, understand or be able to use the power his office to effectively present himself as a major force to be reckoned with, not just a tool for People’s Progressive Party (PPP) convenience when it comes to defence of Guyana’s border.”

The Opposition warned that the influx and uncontrolled migration of so called " refugees" could also facilitate the placement of fifth columnists and operatives into key government, military, and leadership positions both at the local and national levels, and thus achieve a “soft invasion” of the country, with far-reaching implications to our security, independence, and nationhood.

“ Unless decisive action is taken, Guyanese will find that their country faces serious threats to its security and sovereignty without a gunshot fired in anger or any military action they warned. ”

Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Amanza Walton-Desir in a statement yesterday called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd to convene a Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations to brief members on the developments with regards to the border controversy case before the International Court of Jurist (ICJ). According to Walton-Desir the controversy and the migrant crisis  are critical issues of the border controversy and the escalating Venezuelan migrant crisis that demands our immediate attention.

Threat to nationality and electoral integrity

Another concern of the Opposition is the threat to nationality and electoral integrity. “We have repeatedly expressed our deep concerns over the possibility and reality of the PPP seeking to register Venezuelan refugee immigrants as electors.

That threat also confronts our country today. In this regard, the Coalition recapped what it called a few critical developments: “In August 2021, the PPP/C Administration passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, which became Act No. 9 of 2021. Particularly, this Act introduced into our laws a deceptively harmless provision which the PPP/C Government said was intended to simplify the requirements for obtaining a Guyana Birth Certificate.

Section 44 A, one of the new sections inserted into the law, outlines the process by which an adult who has no documentation whatsoever may acquire a Guyana birth certificate on the basis alone of:

(i) A declaration in a prescribed form signed by a person of high standing in the community including a community leader or Toshao; or

(ii) A declaration under the Statutory interpretation Act by a person of high standing in the community including a community leader or Toshao. This declaration is to be signed by a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner of Oaths and the declaration must state the particulars of the birth of a person.

Going further the Opposition noted “law (effectively) provides a means for any person to be registered as a born Guyanese, without the need to provide proper evidence that they were indeed born in Guyana. Furthermore, any person, once armed with a Guyana birth certificate and over 14 years of age, now becomes entitled to be listed in the National Register of Registrants – from which the Voters List is extracted.”

Slackness and danger

This is slackness, the Opposition warned, when compared to the much tighter requirements in other countries. Citing the Trinidad and Tobago situation as an example, it was noted “a person seeking a birth certificate is required to provide documentary proof, such as a letter from the hospital where they were born, an immunization card, names of siblings, or a record from the school they attended – all documents that a genuine applicant already has or can readily obtain.

“We raised the alarm then that the PPP intended to effect thousands of birth registrations, particularly in those far-flung hinterland regions, using an established network of PPP/C aligned Justices of the Peace, Toshaos, and Notaries Public.”

This danger the Opposition pointed out is compounded by the fact that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) now conducts office-based registration without verification of residence, as the PPP has also removed the residency requirement from the Registration Act (ROPA).

“Guyanese must be aware that the registration of births and deaths is a critical component of our election integrity and national security. The adding of persons to a register who are not legitimately entitled undermines the integrity of the population, and can lead to anomalies in the allocation of resources and voting and representation.”

Wanting to ensure their position is not misrepresented the Opposition drew clear a distinction between the registration of refugees for administrative purposes (which is necessary) and their registration for citizenship, the latter of which they oppose.

Core principles on the rights of refugees

Outlining their core principles on the rights of refugees the “Opposition wishes to reiterate that despite these deep concerns, we remain committed to the comfortable settlement of these economic refugees in our homeland – as a demonstration of our typical Guyanese hospitality and our full compliance with our international humanitarian obligations to refugees.

“ if you allow 20,000 Venezuelans to have a path to citizenship in Guyana and then they form a political party and then they win the balance of power, you are virtually creating vulnerabilities which we do not need to create,” ”

“The UN Convention of Refugees, under which Guyana is obligated to accept refugees,  spells out clearly that they are entitled to such rights as to employment, education, health care, internal travel, and housing. International law, however, makes a clear distinction between migrants and refugees. In particular, there is no obligation for States to grant political rights to refugees. Each nation has to assess its own particular circumstances.”

In the case of Guyana, the Opposition advised “our circumstances are exacerbated by the incompetence and ploys of the PPP/C administration, as well as by the fact that our country’s borders are extremely porous, our system of immigration and border control is lax, and government lacks the ability and interest to determine who is crossing our borders out of real economic necessity.”

Mr Ramjattan, a former Home Affairs Minister under the APNU+AFC coalition-led administration from 2015-2020, said he was aware that the intelligence about the situation at the borders was being collected and shared with the United States and other partner nations.

He said the Chief-of-Staff should subject himself to opposition parliamentary scrutiny while being mindful of the fact that there would be State secrets that could not be divulged.

The Opposition Leader noted that Guyana needs to be careful that Venezuela was hatching another plan to take over Venezuela because they were aware that the International Court of Justice would reaffirm that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award fully and finally settled the land boundary between the two countries.

According to Ramjattan and Norton the time is long past for a national conversation on refugees, on their treatment and their path to Guyanese citizenship. Unless decisive action is taken, Guyanese will find that their country faces serious threats to its security and sovereignty without a gunshot fired in anger or any military action they warned. “In the two years remaining in its tenure, the PPP needs to act before the situation gets worse.”

Tensions heightened last month after Venezuela objected to Guyana auctioning 14 of offshore oil blocks. Venezuela publicly cautioned investors that they would not recognise those deals and Guyana should have first sought permission before inviting bids as the blocks are part of its maritime zone.