Spanish-Speaking Migrant Populations in Guyana

Guyana had just over eleven thousand legal migrants in 2013 (UNICEF, 2016, 29), mainly from Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela. Cubans started arriving over the past fve years, generally for shopping, and subsequently taking up residence (Ibid). The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, in December 2019, surveyed 3,320 migrants in the hinterland regions and the coastland. Ninety-two per cents were Venezuelans, and eight per cent Guyanese returnees from Venezuela. Of the interviewed population, 41% were females, and 51% were males. Twenty-six per cent indicated that they were travelling with school-age children. However, of this 26%, 70% stated that their children had no access to education. All the migrants surveyed indicated that they travelled with family members, and an additional 1,665 persons accompanied the migrants surveyed across all regions.

Guyana and Internal Migration

In the Commonwealth Caribbean, Guyana has the highest number of Indigenous people. According to the last national census (2012), 10.3 % of the Guyanese population (76,936 persons) was categorized as Indigenous Peoples. Guyana’s indigenous people live mainly in the hinterland communities. However, there has been consistent migration to the coastland for work, tertiary education and better access to services. Whilst it is not known what percentage of Indigenous people have migrated from their villages, it should be noted that, according to a UNICEF 2016 Situational Analysis of Children and Women in Guyana, only 53% of Indigenous children have the opportunity to complete high school and are more likely than their counterparts to migrate to the city. Females and children in the villages are victims of different types of abuse and violence, according to UNICEF’s 2016 study. The types of abuse identifed by the UNICEF report include child neglect, increased incidence of corporal punishment, domestic violence against females and children and, consequently, gender-based violence and cases of incest (UNICEF 2016).