Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 October 2025, 22:02 by Writer
In the wake of the bombing of a gas station by a Venezuelan man, Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond on Tuesday announced that all foreigners in Guyana would have to be registered and failure to do so would result in them being returned to their country of origin.
Ms Walrond did not specifically respond to questions about whether persons entering Guyana were being fingerprinted or when they apply for visas of extensions of stay. To address the issue of migrants crossing the borders illegally in the coming weeks they would be have to receive a Guyana government-issued electronic identification card (e-ID card).
She said foreigners, who are in Guyana illegally, would be given a grace period to register and be issued with e-ID cards. “They will be given a grace period. After that grace period has expired and you do not register and have an e-ID card, you’ll be taken out of the country and other sanctions will be implemented. That is the policy,” she told a news conference.
Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, who is the Chief Immigration Officer, said currently foreigners are registered at ports of entry, including being fingerprinted, but in the next three or four weeks, “we are going to use another mechanism where we are going to ID all the immigrants that are in Guyana and are not registered and so they are going to be registered through that process.”
Head of the Guyana Police Force’s Criminal Investigations Department, Wendell Blanhum refused to comment about then Home Affairs minister Robeson Benn’s disclosure that there had been several Venezuelan sleeper agents in Guyana.
The opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Monday called for migrants here to be properly documented.
He told a news conference that the bomber, Venezuelan Daniel Alexander Ramirez Peodomo, and his Venezuelan accomplice, along with the remote-controlled explosive device, entered Guyana illegally by boat on October 26 at 8 a.m. Sunday.
The bomb exploded at 7:34 p.m. killing a six-year-old girl and seriously injuring four others.
Mr Ramirez Peodomo, who is facing terrorism, murder, attempted murder, arson and malicious damage to property, is said to be a member of the R Organization (Organización R – OR) associated with the feared sindicato gang.
Nine Venezuelans and a Guyanese are in custody.
Mr Blanhum declined to say the motive for the bombing and whether the Mobil gas station on Regent and King streets was targeted.
“He was supported by other accomplices, both Venezuelans and Guyanese,” he added.
Discover more from Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
