Jamaica denies entry to 235 Indians amid security concerns

Jamaica: The immigration officers in Jamaica denied entry to almost 253 Indian nationals who arrived on Thursday. The denial was made because of the security concerns involving two persons.

According to the information, the Indians to Jamaica on a chartered flight on Thursday were at the Norman Manley International Airport on late Monday for departure.

The Ministry of National Security said that the group which includes over 200 Indians landed in Jamaica legally but were refused entry following which accommodation arrangements were made in place to allow them to settle down since decision regarding their entry in the country is made.

The Ministry said that arrangements are also in place to supervise the departure of the aircraft USC GmbH. It added that in spite of arriving in Jamaica legally and having appropriate documents, the immigration officers sensed security concerns during the processing of the Indians at the airport.

It was found that upon landing in the country, two passengers on the flight did not appear on the submitted passenger manifest. The development led the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency to initiate investigations in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Based on further checks, PICA decided not to grant the passengers leave land in Jamaica. It was also said that because of earlier reservations made at the hotel in Kingston, the travelers and the members of the crew were allowed to leave the airport on humanitarian grounds and were escorted to the hotel by staff from law enforcement and immigration.

The passengers then returned yesterday as they waited to go back from Jamaica because they did not have permission to stay amid security concerns.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Jamaica lauded the government for immediate and quick action and not letting anything come in between their due diligence process.

“Good job, Mr. PM. As per investigations, it seems as if there was a “ruse” to deliberately test the strength of our border controls and security,” wrote a user named Laura, while another user said, “You need to address this situation, Mr Andrew Holiness from airport authorities to customs and immigration needs to lose their job this is not a good look for the country.”