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Guyanese sent home from Antigua alleges mistreatment“If I could find a good job in Guyana, there is no way I will return to Antigua.”These were the words of Adrian Forde, a Guyanese who was recently sent back from the island after spending 15 years of his life.Forde returned to Guyana three months ago after Antiguan authorities refused to renew his work permit, although he had a stable job with one employer for almost the entire time he spent on the island.He described the recent statements by Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, at the opening of the ongoing CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in Georgetown as not entirely the real situation.Prime Minister Spencer told the Heads of Government of the region that his country’s liberal immigration policy cannot be sustained and his government was forced to rethink its immigration policy.“The Immigration Department in Antigua and Barbuda has approved over 14,000 applications from persons seeking the extension of time to remain in the country.”He noted that some of these applicants have received multiple extensions over the years.In respect of work permits, the Prime Minister said that between 1998 and 2008, an average of 5000 work permits were granted on an annual basis.He added that between 1999 and 2008, a total of 5,988 persons became citizens of Antigua and Barbuda.But Forde has painted a different picture, accusing the Antiguan Immigration authorities of violating the rights of many Caribbean nationals and even disregarding the order of a judge.Forde told this newspaper that after 15 years on the island with two four-year extensions of his work permit, he went to regularise his status, but was promptly detained.He said that after three days in custody he and other illegal immigrants were taken before a judge, who ordered that they be released.However, no sooner had they walked out of the courtroom than the immigrants were promptly re-arrested and placed in a bus and taken back to the immigration office where they were again detained.According to Forde, they spent another four days in custody despite the judge’s order.Fortunately, his employer managed to secure the services of an attorney on the island who made representation for him to be released and subsequently sent home.“Those who can’t afford a lawyer had to remain in custody. If you don’t have money you suffer,” Forde told this newspaper.Forde said that during his detention, he observed that there were about 15 of his countrymen along with Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals who have now been left behind.“There were people in there who were detained for almost a month,” he explained.The Antiguan Prime Minister had said that his country will continue to welcome persons from across the Caribbean to its shores but the current immigration practices must be revised.A closer examination is warranted in respect of the capacity of the country’s various socio-economic institutions and infrastructure to adequately manage the continued request of persons desirous of taking up residence there.But according to Forde, the burden on the socio-economic institutions from foreign nationals is minimal.He said that for instance, most immigrants whose children are with them have enrolled them into private schools on the island.Forde said that while he is inclined to remain in Guyana, he would like to return to Antigua to “tie up some loose ends.”“I have left a bank account and my home with all my things inside,” he told this newspaper.With island nations in the Caribbean feeling the brunt of a global economic crisis, both Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda have been clamping down on illegal immigrants.Guyana’s President Bharat Jagdeo had called for an end to what he called the maltreatment of CARICOM nationals.However, both countries have denied accusations that illegal immigrants are being mistreated.