| Titulo |
"International
Migrations in Cuba: persinting trends and changes Contents |
| Autor |
Rolando García Quiñones
Director del Centro de Estudios Demográficos (CEDEM), Cuba |
- Legal emigration:
During the last forty years close to 900,000 people migrated legally to different
countries. It is estimated that around 130,000 Cubans live in Latin America (in Venezuela,
Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile);
approximately 37,000 reside in Europe (mostly Spain, Italy and Germany) and more than
1,000 in the rest of the world, for example, Canada and some of the former socialist
Eastern European countries such as Russia.
- Illegal emigration: These flows target mainly the U.S., including the
Guantanamo Naval Base, the Great Caiman Islands, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic,
among other countries. From 1985 to the signing of the 1994 Migration Agreements, the
number of illegal emigrants reached 82,500, including both successful and failed
emigration attempts. From 1994 up to the mid-2000 a total of 7,500 Cubans arrived in the
U.S., including those who were intercepted by the U.S. Coastguard and returned to Cuba
under the Migration Agreements. Following 1994 legal Cuban migration flows tend to
stabilize, as did restrictions to illegal entries through the coast. However, Cubans
continued to enter the U.S. through other routes, including the smuggling of people.
- The 'Exodo' Programme: Another way to enter the U.S., besides appealing
to family ties, is through "bridge" countries. In fact, "Exodo" is the
name of a programme established by the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) to bring
Cubans to the U.S. from third countries. By 1992, more than 8,500 Cubans had entered the
U.S. through this programme.
- Forced return: This policy is applied to some Cuban immigrants, for
example the "Marielitos excludibles", those retained in 1994 at the Guantanamo
Naval Base who were not accepted as immigrants by the U.S., as well as Cubans who attempt
to enter the U.S. by sea and are captured by the U.S. Coastguard, as agreed in the
Migration Agreements. This also includes Cubans who are returned by other countries that
have signed agreements with the Cuban government. From the signing of the Agreements up to
the year 2000, U.S. authorities returned to Cuba 2,800 people caught at sea, and 480 who
entered through the Guantanamo Naval Base.
- No return (temporary visas): These are people who travel abroad as
visitors or for personal or official reasons (work, study, etc.) and decide not to return
to Cuba. An important number of such people entered the U.S. through this way until the
early 1990s, however this tendency has changed and the number of countries of destination
has increased.
- Temporary emigration: This is a new aspect of Cuba's international
migration. The number of people under this category has increased since the second half of
the 1990s, covering different sectors of Cuban society. It reveals a flexibilization of
Cuba's migration policy and the impact of the Special Period. The "Permit to Reside
Abroad" (PRE, in Spanish) is a new aspect of Cuba's flexibilization of migration
policies. This permit is granted to people who do not attempt nor wish to abandon forever
their country of origin.
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