AUTHORITIES SEARCH FOR MAN WHO ENTERED BVI ILLEGALLY

Acting Chief Immigration Officer Mr. Malvern Brathwaite said immigration surveillance officers and members of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force are continuing their search to locate 27-year-old Coy Robinson of Jamaica  after he evaded immigration officers at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport and fled the airport compound last weekend.

Mr. Brathwaite said the man returned to the Territory on Sunday, January 28 after being denied entry the day before. The acting Chief Immigration Officer told the Department of Information and Public Relations that Mr. Robinson was denied entry because his permit had expired.

“He returned to the Territory on Sunday and when immigration officers were in the process of detaining him Mr. Robinson ran from the arrival hall of the terminal building onto the airport tarmac. He subsequently climbed over the perimeter fence of the airside tarmac and fled the area,” said Mr. Brathwaite.

The acting Chief Immigration Officer noted that the illegal migrant arrived in the Territory on Winair Flight 45 from St. Maarten.

Members of the public with useful information on the whereabouts of Coy Robinson are urged to contact either the Immigration Department or the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force.

Also during the past weekend on Saturday, January 27, Mr. Brathwaite said, immigration officers at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport detained six Chinese nationals who tried to enter the Territory via Trinidad and Antigua on LIAT’s last flight that evening.

According to the acting Chief Immigration Officer intelligence and immigration investigation revealed that the Chinese migrants’ intended to enter the U.S. Virgin Islands illegally via the BVI. They were detained overnight, he said, and repatriated on Sunday, January 28.

The Immigration Department, which comes under the Chief Minister’s Office, works to ensure that all non-belongers entering the Territory qualify as desirable visitors and that their residence, employment, and business activities are monitored and controlled.