Second flight carrying third-country national expected this week

The second flight carrying one third-country national (TCN) is expected to arrive in Jamaica this week, Minister of Information Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has disclosed.

Morris Dixon also stated that 20 of the 22 deportees who arrived in Jamaica from the United States more than three weeks ago have been sent back to their homeland, while the other two have indicated their desire to return home.

“The Minister of National Security had indicated that they were landed for 30 days…we expect that all of those third-country nationals transiting through Jamaica will go,” Morris Dixon said.

“So, all the alarm that was made about this was not necessary really, they’ve come, we’ve treated them humanely, we’ve treated them as real people the way Jamaicans would treat anyone, and we’ve made arrangements through the IOM [International Organization for Migration] leading on this and they have been facilitating their return home,” she added.

The deportees arrived in Jamaica on October 13 and were given landing status under an agreement between the Jamaican and United States governments.

Under the arrangement, no more than 25 third-country nationals (TCNs) are expected to arrive in Jamaica every two weeks.

The programme is also to be suspended if 10 of the individuals apply to remain in Jamaica through asylum applications or other humanitarian processes.

- Sashana Small

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