Leaders of Cubans in Colombia Deported

Leaders of Cubans in Colombia Deported / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 31 May 2016 – Colombian immigration
officials arrested Maidelin Hernandez and her husband, Nelson March on
Monday night; the couple documented the daily situation of hundreds of
Cubans who are stranded in a shelter in the Colombian city of Turbo.

The couple was reportedly deported to Ecuador, according to William
Gonzalez de la Hoz, Ombudsman, despite the fact that Hernandez has
cancer and wants to reach the United States so that his family can pay
for treatment.

"This is a sign. Slowly they continue to deport small groups so as not
to cause a scandal," said a Colombian official who requested anonymity.

Turbo's mayor, Alejandro Abuchar, confirmed that the Cubans had been
arrested, but the mayor says he has no tied to the Colombian immigration
authorities. "We continue making every effort for migrants, trying to
ensure that their rights as human beings are respected," said the mayor.

The deportation of this couple happens after last Sunday's repatriation
to to Cuba of an undocumented immigrant couple, who were arrested near
Medellin.

"That was very unjust, we are all in the shelter or homes, according to
what each person is able to pay, but we thought they would make a
collective decision. Now we see that is not the case," said Aylin Gari
Cruz, an activist in the Republican Party Cuba currently in Turbo.

The process of detention occurred when the couple left the hostel where
more than a hundred Cubans are sleeping in this Caribbean
city. According to statements by the Hernandez himself, he was brought
down by an official of Colombia Migration while trying to find
medication to alleviate the pain of his illness. After a quick scuffle,
they were arrested and forbidden to communicate with family and friends,
and one of their cell phones was confiscated.

Hernandez managed to hide his cellphone in his underwear and from the
immigration office sent brief messages to the press on the situation
they found themselves in.

In documents shared with this newspaper by Turbo's Municipal Ombudsman
Office, the migrants refused to give their names and, on being
considered "undocumented," the deportation process began.

Share this:

Source: Leaders of Cubans in Colombia Deported / 14ymedio, Mario Penton
– Translating Cuba - http://translatingcuba.com/47909-2/