Cubans still in limbo over asylum

A group of Cuban nationals who protested outside the UN office on Chancery Lane in Port of Spain last November are still waiting for word about which country they will be granted asylum in.

Sources close to those Cubans said they were still living in a warehouse owned by a business in Cunupia. Reports identified that business as Sheikh Lisha Ltd.

Efforts to contact the company yesterday were unsuccessful but sources said 112 Cubans were still at that location and they had received no word to date from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about their applications for asylum in another country. The migrants were said to be considering a return to the UN’s office at the end of this month.

Sources also said the migrants had not received any assistance from either the Cuban Embassy or the Government.

When Newsday called the Cuban Embassy, all inquiries were directed to the embassy’s charge d’affaires who was not in office at the time.

Last November, the UNCHR said it continued to support the Government in its efforts to “address the needs of refugees in ways that are efficient, humane and achievable.”

Also in November, National Security Minister Stuart Young said Government was following due process in the matter.