Next week, Cuban officials have set up a 3-day meeting in Havana with Cubans residing abroad to discuss possible changes to Cuba’s migration policy.
The question on everybody’s mind is that of the exit permits that Cubans need to obtain from the Ministry of Interior to be able to leave the country, even if they have a foreign visa. One of the reasons for the desperate attempts of many to flee the island on rafts is that this permit is rarely given.
Other obstacles to emigration include the high prices of the exit permit (paid in dollars equivalent to approximately 5 years of a professional person’s total peso salary. Adding to this hardship is the fact that people requesting political asylum abroad are routinely fired from their workplace for being “politically unreliable”, depriving them of the income needed to apply.
Ever since Raul Castro took over the presidency from Fidel there has been talk of some easing in the restrictions the government places on its citizens who wish to emigrate. There seems to be a reduction in the number of permits denied, i.e. 247 citizens or their dependents who had received foreign travel documents were denied exit permits during the year, down from 836 in 2004.
If Cuba does indeed lift the infamous travel restrictions it will be interesting to see to what degree the U.S. is prepared to give visas to the masses of Cubans ready to travel. Sceptics think the result of the conference will instead be aimed at making it easier for Cubans residing abroad to travel back and forth, with no substantial change for the resident population.
This makes sense as a reciprocity for the recent easing of rules on Cuban nationals in the U.S. for travelling and spending money in Cuba.
