Refugee fleet 'disaster waiting to happen’

Press, 10 May 1980, Page 8

Refugee fleet 'disaster waiting to happen’

NZPA-Reuter Key West A United States Coast Guard officer has called the rag-tag freedom flotilla of boats carrving refugees from Cuba “a disaster waiting to happen” as the number of ’refugees climbed past 26.000.. ■ Two companies of marines I [were on duty to keep order. I at the crowded refugee cen-i tres where tempers were j running shc-rt. Twelve of the; 14 centres in three Florida: counties were reported short) of food and supplies. After four straight days of record influxes, the rate of arrivals inexplicably slowed on Thursday as immigration officials counted 2345 arrivals by 10 p.m. That brought to about 26,500 the total who have made the crossing from Cuba’s Mariel Harbour since April 21. In San Jose, Costa Rica, representatives of 21 nations meeting to discuss the refugee situation agreed in principle on the formation of an international panel to help co-ordinate the exodus of Cubans. The Costa Rican President (Mr Rodrigo Carazo) suggested that the commission be set up and Britain and

1 Costa Rica agreed immediately to take part in it. ; But there was no indicaition how big the suggestion ' commission might be, which I of the other nations were , interested in joining, or whether the Cuban Govern- ' ment would go along with ithe idea. I Three Cuban exites, one of {them HCiber Matos, once a, : co-revolutionary of President) Fidel Castro, testified in secret before the 21-nation; meeting. Mr Matos, who fought) with Castro against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Ba-| tista,' and then was impris-1 oned for 20 years for de? I nouncing Castro’s Commun- | ist tack, came to Costa Rica) from Miami, Florida, toi address the gathering. ! Before testifying, Mr I Matos said, “Cuba, the; whole island, is one big prison. If all the Cubans who) wanted to go could go, the| island would be almost: empty.” He was released last October from a Cuban prison and was flown to Costa Rica. He later flew to Miami, where he has compaigned for the release of all civilians and political I:

• : prisoners who want to leave •ithe country. -1 It was reported from Fon 1 Walton Beach, Florida, tha--1 the flow of refugees reach sling the Florida coast was •|triggering serious law anc ■i order problems in over/crowded processing centres. United States customs ■ officials said they had found 1)200 Cubans with serious I : criminal records and tw c I suspected spies among the 1) refugees who have arrived ;here so far. Dr Castro has been accused by United States ; authorities of placing secret {agents and hardened criminals among the thousands of ’{legitimate refugees. I But there did not seem ta ibe enough hard evidence yet Ito back up fears of a big influx of Cuban undesirables, officials said. Most of the 200 singled out, after intensive questioning of the arriving refugees, 1 had been involved in serious {crimes such as murder, rape land robbery. Many of the refugees were regarded as criminals in Cuba because they had been arrested and jailed for minor infractions. They would not be considered criminals in a Ifree society.