by Linda Straker
- 264 people from various nationalities deported; 92 males and 56 females
- 44 Haitians deported between 2023 and 2024
- 59 deportees to St Vincent
Haitians and Vincentians top the nationalities deported from Grenada between 2020 and 2024, according to data from the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF).
For the period, 264 people from various nationalities, including South Americans, Europeans, Africans and Caribbean nationals, were deported from the country. From that figure, there were 192 males and 56 females, with the ages ranging from under 18 or minors, to 60 plus or elderly.
According to the data which was submitted following a request from the RGPF, in 2023 and 2024, the number of Haitians deported was 44 (22 in each year). For the period under review, 2023 marked the first year that Haitians were deported from the island, when, on Sunday, 12 February, 15 Haitian nationals entered Grenada as a tourist group. They were sent back because immigration officers determined they would be a burden to the public purse.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, who is also the Minister for National Security and Immigration, told the media the following day that the French-speaking nationals arrived on a flight from Trinidad. Immigration officers in their normal routine checks were able to make the determination that in fact, they would be a charge on the public purse if they were permitted to enter the state. It is not known when the other 7 in the 2023 figure were deported, nor the reason why they were deported. It is also not known why and when, in 2024, the second group of 22 were deported from Grenada.
As for Vincentian nationals, for the period under review, deportees to St Vincent were 59. It is not clear under what circumstances all 59 were deported; however, several people who were wanted for offences in St Vincent were captured in Grenada and deported at the Order of the Court. Others who committed offences in Grenada were deported to the neighbouring state.
Grenada also deported people to Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Ukraine, China, Italy, Cameroon, Ghana, USA, United Kingdom, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, Sweden, Nigeria, Cyprus, Philippines, Panama and Croatia.
