UN to assess Cameroonians in St Kitts

St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew has said that the United Nations is now involved in the case of the 14 Cameroonians currently in St Kitts and Nevus

The Cameroonians were part of an illegal voyage to St Thomas that turned tragic after their boat capsized off the coast of St Kitts on March 28th

Dr. Drew told the media in his country that he had visited the Cameroonians and that the majority of them were well educated

He told a broadcast of the Roundtable; A Special Interview with WINN, “I went and visited them, the Cameroonians – for full disclosure – I wanted to know who they are. Why are they here? Interestingly enough, when I met them, they are well-educated people. I went in; I knew Cameroonians speak French and English… they are bilingual; not only that, there are teachers among them, lawyers, business people, there are IT specialists, and so forth… the Cameroonians are professionals from what I picked up and what I gleaned… however I said that we would get the United Nations involved. The United Nations is now involved, and they are going to start their assessment, and from their assessment, they will give us a report, and then based on the report, we will take our final action.”.

About 14 Cameroonians perished when the boat they were travelling on capsized but only three dead bodies were retrieved.

“There are three bodies here from those who died. I have said to them that if nobody claims the bodies – and we asked the UN to help us to see if there are any family members in the United States who can claim the bodies. We will find out what their religion is; if they are Muslim, we will get a Muslim Imam to come in and bury them. If there are Christians, then we are a Christian Society; we will get a Pastor to bury them. But we will make sure they are buried with the greatest of respect and by the religion they practice… When the UN gives us the assessment, we will know who they are, and the religion they practice, and give them a burial that is fitting of a human. We are civilized people, and irrespective of all the human trafficking issues, we as civilized people,” he told the media house.

The Cameroonians currently being housed in St Kitts and Nevis were expected to be repatriated to Antigua but the Gaston Browne administration rescinded that decision after they escaped.