Nine of the 22 third-country nationals transferred to Jamaica from the United States under a bilateral migration arrangement have departed the island, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said Wednesday, according to Caribbean National Weekly.
The minister said the remaining individuals were at different stages of departure. The International Organization for Migration continues to oversee their care and arrangements for onward travel.
Johnson Smith also defended the safeguards governing Jamaica’s participation in the arrangement. She said the country had not agreed to receive people with criminal backgrounds beyond violations of United States immigration law, and that individuals undergo vetting by both countries before entering Jamaica.
Her remarks addressed concerns about the United States’ use of third-country national agreements to transfer migrants elsewhere. She said agreements involving the transfer of criminals to other countries should not be taken as a description of Jamaica’s arrangement.
The group arrived at Norman Manley International Airport on October 13. It comprised 15 men and seven women from Ecuador and one European country, according to the report. No children were among those who arrived.
The individuals received 90-day landing status while arrangements were made for onward travel. Under the agreement, Jamaica is expected to receive no more than 25 third-country nationals every two weeks.
The programme also includes a suspension threshold: it is to be halted if 10 or more individuals seek to remain in Jamaica through asylum applications or other humanitarian processes.
Wednesday’s announcement marked an increase in confirmed departures from the minister’s Tuesday update, when she reported that one person had returned home. At that point, she said 21 remained in Jamaica, including one person who had asked to stay.
The latest update brought confirmed departures to nine. Johnson Smith said the IOM continued to manage care and onward-travel arrangements for those still on the island.