GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – The Guyana Government says 12 people, including six Haitians and two Russians, were intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) when they sought to enter the island illegally.

Citizenship Minister Winston Felix said immigration officers had also denied four Cubans and a Colombian from entering the country after they arrived here on a Copa Airline flight CM254 on Tuesday afternoon.

He said the foreigners did not have visas, or money as in the case of the Colombian.

He told reporters that the Haitians had produced a letter purportedly issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Guyana granting them entry into the country.

But Felix said that immigration officers have informed him that the use of such letters by illegal migrants is common.

“Anybody producing a letter from Foreign Affairs is outside the off-stump, dead wrong,” Felix said, indicating that the immigration department is alerted when the Foreign Affairs Ministry is expecting visitors.

Haitians require visas to enter many Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries even though the French-speaking country is a member of the 15-member CARIOM grouping.

All six Haitians as well as the Colombian were deported and the Russian national was denied entry because she did not meet not meet immigration requirements. But her husband, who did, opted to leave Guyana with her.

Felix said that in the case of the two Russians, the wife “was suspected of being connected to illegal migration”.

The four Cubans including two children, ages three and six, were also suspected of being involved in “illegal migration.

““They refused to go back so we’ve tried to find suitable places to accommodate them and the children,” Felix said, urging airlines servicing Guyana to conduct due-diligence when selling tickets to migrants.

Last month immigration officers intercepted eight Indian nationals who arrived here on an Insel Air flight, and were seeking entry into Guyana.

The men were unable to provide adequate information on their place of accommodation and purpose for entering the country, had no visa or sufficient money.