President Jagdeo and Chinese Ambassador Mr Yu Wenzhe
While President Bharrat Jagdeo continues to receive some criticism for offering Chinese nationals automatic citizenship after they would have lived in Guyana for seven years, the Chinese community remains pleased with the offer; and, more particularly, the interaction with the Guyanese head of state.
This is according to Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Yu Wenzhe, who said that the Chinese community was very eager to meet President Jagdeo and to get proper information on how to go about acquiring citizenship in Guyana: the procedures, people and agencies to approach; and how to acquire work permits, among other issues. The opportunity for information sharing, the ambassador believes, will address most of the constraints Chinese nationals face while living and working in Guyana.
“In the past, I understand, some in the Chinese community had difficulties of knowing the right channel and right procedures of doing these kinds of things,” the Chinese envoy stated. He continued: “Sometimes, they find somebody who says ‘I can help you to acquire the citizenship; I can help you to get a work permit, but I have to take money from you’.”
Because of these activities, Ambassador Wenzhe said, some of the Chinese nationals were not able to proceed with the process of securing citizenship or work permits; and if they did proceed, it was often not in the correct way. Many Chinese nationals have claimed that they were finding it difficult to acquire citizenship and work permits, or renewals of the latter. Some called for respect from the Guyanese citizenry, and some claimed of being harassed by authorities, who often demand money from them.
Asked whether the Chinese Embassy in Guyana had received frequent complaints about harassment or mistreatment of Chinese nationals in Guyana by the authorities or Guyanese citizens, the ambassador responded, “In every country there are good people and there are bad people. This is so in China, and this is so in Guyana; but we would think that the good people greatly outnumber the bad ones.”
However, while he has not received any such complaints personally since he took office four months ago, the Chinese ambassador hinted that some complaints might, nevertheless, have been made to the embassy. He stressed that there is a good relationship between the Chinese envoys and the Guyanese authorities, so when there is a complaint, the two parties would communicate to resolve the issue.
Chinese important to Guyana
At the meeting last month, President Jagdeo met close to 400 Chinese nationals to listen to their concerns. He gave them this reassurance: “Chinese people have been an important part of our history. If you go back to a hundred and fifty years, they came and made a very valuable contribution to our society over the century-and-a-half here. They must be able to enjoy a stay that is free of discrimination or harassment.”
To this end, President Jagdeo stated, Chinese nationals living legally and continuously in Guyana for no less than seven years would automatically qualify for citizenship, while the duration of a work permit will be three years.
