By Tangerine Clarke
Some GY$38 million was airmarked
by Guyana’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International
Corporation in collaboration with
the International Organization of
Migration (IOM), to woo young
diasporans to return home to
share their skills and expertise to
develop the Republic.
Foreign Secretary, Robert Persaud,
in a recent press conference,
called the program, innovative,
and explained that the project
“authorizes those involved to go
directly after the second and third
generation of Guyanese living in
the diaspora with the hope of convincing
them to return home “to
serve, to volunteer, work with the
government and private sectors,
civil society, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and groups
in need of support.”
“This is a crucial element
because we don’t want to lose
the second and third generation
of Guyanese living overseas and
them losing interest and missing
out on the opportunity here,”
Persaud told the News Room
recently.
The politician however, made
it clear “that these efforts were
in no way intended to give preferential
Caribbean L 16 ife, APRIL 16-22, 2021
access and opportunities
to persons living abroad at the
disadvantage of persons living in
Guyana.”
“I want to make it absolutely
clear that our emphasis on the
diaspora is not to the disadvantage
of persons who have lived
here, worked and study here and
perhaps made the sacrifice of
staying on because sometimes I
think people see it as a competition.
It is not.”
“For us, it is about how we
can complement the progress we
are making, as it were, to further
support the government’s
vision and developmental drive
and the president’s own efforts
to transform the country. So it is
utilizing the resource out there,
and see what we can attract to
support what we have here. So
it is not taking away opportunities
from persons here. I want to
make that absolutely clear,” he
posited, according to the Guyana
News Room.
A new unit was established as
part of enhancing the government’s
plans of engaging and
involving the Diaspora to support
its national development priorities,
allowing for an enhanced,
sustained, and coordinated
engagement with all Guyanese
abroad.
Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Transport and
Harbours Department, Rosalinda
Rasul will head the unit.
Foreign Service Staffer and
former Head of the Consular
Section of Guyana’s Embassy in
Belgium, Leroy Adolphus, will
support Rasul in her duties of
leading the government’s diaspora
engagement.
Persaud said the new unit
would be focused on better harnessing
the expertise, talent, and
investment potential within the
global Guyanese community.
He said a 2020 analysis done
by the Washington based Center
for Strategic and International
Studies noted that as a consequence
of steady emigration, only
Guyana’s Foreign Secretary, Robert M. Persaud. www.minfor.
gov.gy
about half of Guyanese now live
within the boarders of Guyana,
while the remainder are scattered
in diaspora communities across
the world.
As such, in order to stem the
phenomenon, the People’s Progressive
Party government has
been keen in its efforts to not
only stem migration, but to motivate
Guyanese living abroad to
return home.
In preparation for the response
that has been positive, Persaud
assured that a re-migrant scheme
has been streamlined to ensure
efficiency, as more and more citizens
continue to re-migrate to
Guyana, that statistic will show.
“There has been a steady flow
of Guyanese from the region,
neighboring countries, Suriname
and Venezuela,” he said, and posited
that as part of enhancing its
plan of engagement and involving
the Diaspora to support its
national development priorities,
the government has reintegrated
diaspora and re-migration matters
in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation.
GUY$38M initiative to woo
young diasporans home
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