Immigration detains two
boys after cricket match
PHILIPSBURG--The local Immigration Department reportedly detained two eleven-year-old Guyanese boys after they returned from Anguilla, where they represented St. Maarten in a cricket match on Sunday, July 29.
According to reports, a third child, a Jamaican, originally was detained with the other two, but was released after it was confirmed that his documents were being processed.
While there is no official comment from police and the Immigration Department regarding the alleged detention, The Daily Herald has been informed that the children are being accommodated at I Can Foundation and were detained because they did not have legal documents to enter the island.
The children left the island on a ferry to Anguilla from the pier at the back of the Simpson Bay police substation, as has been the case for years, and were not checked by Immigration. They were checked on their return and the two boys’ status was discovered.
Angered by this turn of events, mother of the St. Maarten Under 13 Cricket Association team captain Michelle Martina and mother of another player Bibi Hodge-Shaw held a press conference outside the Government Administration Building Tuesday, denouncing the actions against the children as cruel and unusual punishment.
According to Martina, the association is to be blamed for this problem, not the Immigration officers who were doing their jobs. She said the children had travelled with 10 parents and when the coach was asked if the children, including the two detainees and the one whose documents were being processed, could travel he said “yes” and they left.
Hodge-Shaw said she was not concerned about this only from the association’s standpoint, but particularly because the association president was, according to her, Police Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday.
She said these children would have been allowed to re-enter without problems in the past. However, with the recent detention of former Chief Immigration Officer Police Commissioner Marcel Loor on bribery charges, there are now suddenly efforts to give the impression of proper execution of laws.
According to reports, participants in the Leeward Islands cricket tournament, in which St. Maarten participated recently, who had illegal status were able to travel and were allowed to re-enter.
The Cricket Association declined to comment on the matter at this time. A spokesman indicated the association would release a statement when the case was resolved. Attempts to contact Holiday were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the two children are still being held pending the final decision on their repatriation.
