It is confirmed that residents abroad will be able to keep their properties on the Island
14ymedio, Havana, July 20, 2024 — Controlling the “Cuban migration process” was the euphemism that a senior official of the Ministry of the Interior used to describe the stampede of recent years on the Island, during the debate in Parliament for the approval, this Friday, of new laws on three issues: Migration, Citizenship and Immigration. The new regulations aim to “design procedures” for Cubans who leave the Island and also to control the “increase in the number and diversity of migratory irregularities with the involvement of foreigners.”
The Migration Law provides that Cubans residing abroad can keep their properties on the Island, even if they have spent more than two years away. They will no longer be called “emigrated” — as those who spent more than 24 consecutive months without returning to Cuba have been known — and those who spend “most of their time in the national territory” will be called “actual residents.”
Cubans who reside outside the Island will also be able to apply for the status of “investors and entrepreneurs.” The law will allow foreigners to access permanent residence if they have “an important patrimony abroad” that “allows them to start a business or make investments.”
“Enlisting in any type of armed organization with the aim of violating the territorial integrity of the State” will bring with it the loss of nationality
For its part, the Citizenship Law, presented by First Colonel Mario Méndez, states that “enlisting in any type of armed organization with the aim of violating the territorial integrity of the Cuban State” will bring with it the loss of nationality. In addition, the document provides for the possibility of a Cuban having multiple citizenship — which was already recognized by the Constitution of 2019 — provided that, on Cuban soil, they do not make use of their foreign citizenship. Méndez said that Cuban citizenship can be acquired by birth or by naturalization.
As for the renunciation of citizenship, only those over 18 years of age who, living abroad, prove that they have another citizenship can do so. It cannot be done by those who have debts to the Cuban State or are being “sought for the commission of a crime.” Several NGOs and human rights defenders have warned about the potential political use of denationalization in Cuba, pointing to Nicaragua as a recent example.
During the debate of the law, the deputies were more open when it came to recognizing the alarming migratory situation in the country. The ethnologist Miguel Barnet, trying to soften the panorama, celebrated the law and proposed to call those who left “cybergrandparents, cyberparents and cyberfriends.”
The Aliens Law, applicable to all foreigners who are temporarily or permanently on the Island, including diplomats, was also presented by Méndez, who hurried to clarify that the document didn’t receive much criticism during its drafting. “Most people didn’t comment on the law or have an opinion; it was the least controversial,” he said.
The law is proposed to “regulate the care, protection and documentation of foreigners who settle in national territory”
According to José Luis Toledo, president of the Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the law aims to “regulate the care, protection and documentation of foreigners who settle in national territory.” Toledo stressed that the law “will establish the cases and the way in which foreigners will be expelled from the national territory,” and which institutions will be in charge of executing that process.
Foreigners will be able to reside in Cuba as “provisional residents,” a new category that represents a prelude to permanent residence, or as “humanitarian residents: refugees, stateless persons and political asylum seekers” that the Government considers as such.
“The exercise of the rights of foreigners in Cuba is only limited by the rights of others, for reasons of defense and national security, public order, health, exceptional and disaster situations, and by force majeure, with the approval of the competent authorities,” warns the document, about the “conduct of respect” for the regime that foreigners must maintain.
Despite the authorities’ attempts to disguise the seriousness of the situation in Parliament, the Cuban exodus has not stopped in recent years
Despite the authorities’ attempts to disguise the seriousness of the situation in Parliament, the Cuban exodus has not stopped in recent years. This Friday, while the triad of laws was being approved, 27 rafters were returned to the Island by the U.S. Coast Guard Service. Counting them, that makes 850 people sent back from different countries in the region so far in 2024.
The rafters had left the coast of Mariel in a rustic boat, the Ministry of the Interior reported. According to the U.S. authorities, there are 180,925 Cubans who have entered the country in the last nine months through legal channels (through the southern border or by humanitarian parole), and it is estimated that, if that pace is maintained, at the end of the fiscal year – September 30, 2024 – 245,000 Cubans will have entered.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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