Saturday, February 6, 2010

Antigua accepting limited Haitians

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, February 5, 2010 – Antigua and Barbuda is granting visa waivers to allow Haitians to join their close relatives in the twin-island nation following last month’s devastating earthquake.

National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort said six requests have already been granted and additional visa waiver applications have since been submitted.

Speaking on a local radio station, he said the approximately 120 Haitians living in Antigua legally are being given the chance to help their relatives who were affected by the January 12th quake.

“The government has extended to these folks, the opportunity for them in certain cases to be able to bring close family members here to get over that whole transitional period in Haiti, from destruction to rebuilding,” Dr Cort said.

“We have, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sought to grant certain visa waivers to allow a limited amount of folks in to be with their families here in Antigua and Barbuda and that policy is also being reviewed to see if we can give further assistance.”

He added that consideration is being given to setting up a desk in Immigration Department specifically to process the visa waiver requests.

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