Huge Surge in Migrants Caught By Coastguard

US coastguards intercepted 2,712 Cubans attempting to reach America's shores during the past 12 months, more than double the previous year's figure of 1,225 and the highest number since 1994, when 37,000 crossed the Florida straits.
US coastguards intercepted 2,712 Cubans attempting to reach America's shores during the past 12 months, more than double the previous year's figure of 1,225 and the highest number since 1994, when 37,000 crossed the Florida straits.

Analysts say worsening economic conditions on the island mean more Cubans were trying to escape to Florida, many in unseaworthy boats.

Coastguard patrols have been stepped up. The 1994 migration led the US to adopt a "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, under which Cubans who reach land are allowed to stay and those intercepted at sea are repatriated.


By Guardian Unlimited © Copyright Guardian Newspapers 2008
Published: 10/10/2005
 
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