APNU Member of Parliament Terrence Campbell has accused the People Progressive Party (PPP) government of failing to secure Guyana’s borders and update its immigration and migrant labour policies, arguing that those shortcomings have left the country vulnerable to foreign criminal gangs.
In a video to the government Campbell challenged President Ali’s handling of national security concerns. He argued that warnings about criminal organisations should be accompanied by an acknowledgement of what he described as the administration’s policy failures.
“This government has allowed unfettered immigration into this country,” Campbell alleged.
Campbell claimed that Venezuelans were entering Guyana without documentation, while Cubans were arriving through documented channels. He contrasted their treatment with that of Haitians, accusing the government of preventing Haitian arrivals despite their status as CARICOM nationals.
“Mind you, the Haitians are CARICOM nationals, a region in which we are trying to encourage visa-free travel,” he said.
Campbell also accused the administration of racial discrimination in its treatment of Haitians.
Turning to concerns about Venezuelan criminal organisations, Campbell argued that any presence of such groups in Guyana should be considered alongside the government’s management of immigration and migrant employment.
He said the administration was operating “without an updated immigration policy or an updated migrant labour policy.”
Campbell criticised the president for delivering a national security address about gang threats without, in Campbell’s view, accepting responsibility for the policies he believes contributed to the situation.
He also referred to groups known as “syndicatos and Tren de Aragua” alleging that failures in immigration and migrant labour policy had enabled criminal gangs to operate in Guyana.
“The PPP government has failed to secure this country,” Campbell said. “It has failed to have proper policies of national security.”
He further accused the administration of prioritising “material gain and political advantage.”
“If our national security is under threat this morning, it is all because of … the PPP government and the absence of a proper migrant labour policy and a proper immigration policy,” he said.
