American Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to appeal orders to leave the country although they are still to determine a way forward and the opposition PNCR yesterday condemned the government over its handling of the matter.

On Wednesday the Ministry of Home Affairs said the missionaries violated the Immigration Act, as they remained in the jurisdiction despite being issued letters denying Work Permits and Extension of Stay. Fifty of them were ordered to leave the country in 30 days.“Right now we are in a discussion with our committee,” Colin Goodluck, the Georgetown, Guyana District President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said when contacted yesterday afternoon. He added, “We are currently discussing how we will address this matter and will issuing a statement addressing it soon.”

Goodluck further directed this newspaper to Leslie Sobers, the Church’s local Director of Public Affairs, whom he said would be in a better position to comment on the issue. The District President declined to comment further but indicated he would contact this newspaper as soon as more information was available. “We have nothing to hide,” Goodluck stressed.

Sobers meanwhile told Stabroek News yesterday that “most likely” after this batch of missionaries leave, another set should be arriving. However, this had not yet been “finalized” by the church as a collective body, he explained, noting that there is also a possibility that the foreign missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may very well not return here to offer their social and humanitarian services to Guyana.

The incident, which saw almost 50 missionaries being taken into police custody at the Criminal Investigation Department, Eve Leary on Wednesday, before they were given a 30-day period to leave, was condemned yesterday by the main opposition party as an assault on the religious community and an act of disregard for the rule of law.

Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang issued an order on Wednesday afternoon which prevented the state from arresting and or detaining the members of the Church for the purposes of removing them from Guyana before the hearing and determination of the Appeals filed by them in the High Court. The matter was adjourned to September 16.

Court proceedings, according to Sobers, will be continued and allowed to take their natural course. He said that the Missionaries have been directed by the government to leave and that is absolute. However, he pointed out that the Missionaries will not travel until their time has elapsed. Despite “this problem”, Sobers said, travel arrangements have not been made, not one of the Missionaries had left Guyana and they all went about their usual activities of rendering help and support to Guyanese yesterday.

Extension of Stay

Sobers explained that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has been here for two decades, has nine branches locally which are managed by Goodluck and two councillors. Goodluck’s council, Sobers further explained, in turn answers to the West Indies Mission. Currently, he said, a member of the West Indies Mission is in Guyana aiding the local church officials with the immigration issue. A copy of the Ministry of Home Affair’s statement, which detailed the sequence of the events leading up to the decision to have the Mormons leave, was sent to Sobers.

According to the Ministry, the Missionaries had overstayed their time here and did not possess valid work permits since November 2004, April 2005, April 2007, January 2008 and March 2009 respectively. In October of 2007, the church had requested work permits and the extension of stay for ten US nationals to be attached to the church as missionaries but that this was denied. Further, in February, 2008 a new application was received by the ministry requesting work permits and an extension of stay for another twenty-two American missionaries the church was asked to submit a list of foreign nationals and their locations for the purpose of processing that application.

This list, the ministry reported, was submitted in February 2008 and showed that there were fifty-four missionaries attached to the church and included those who were previously denied work permits and extensions. While the application for the fifty-four missionaries was being processed the church again applied for work permits and extension of stay for an additional sixty-nine American missionaries and included in this list were eight from the list of fifty-four. The ministry said that they were given slips acknowledging receipt of their applications. The ministry had said that the church was informed of the findings and invited to an interview in September 2008.

Wayne D. Barrow, then Georgetown District President of the church and attorney Nigel Hughes, had attended the interview and the matter was ventilated with the Head of the Immigration Support Services. In June this year, the ministry said that the church was again asked to supply a list of foreign nationals with the organization along with their location and copies of their passports. The ministry said that on June 10, 2009 the church replied and provided a list showing that sixty-six persons were attached and the reply also requested permits and extension of stay for them. “Of the sixty (60) Missionaries, the records showed that fifty (50) Missionaries had overstayed, (whereabouts of 13) were unclear and three (3) had valid Work Permits,” the Ministry noted. The head of the organization resident here was then invited for a meeting and current District Councilor Sanjay Pooran reported to the ministry and the matter was discussed. “He was informed of the Ministry’s decision and issued a letter denying work permits and extension of stay to the fifty (50) persons who had overstayed their time in Guyana”, the ministry related.

Pooran, because of the Church’s cooperative effort to deal with the issue, could not comment on this. Addressing this section of the Ministry’s statement, Sobers said that he is “not sure that the ministry’s statement is all together accurate.” He confirmed that there were applications for the extension of stay and subsequently appeals were made but as far as he has been informed the Church was never told that those applications had been denied. “When applications for the extension of stay are submitted then the immigrants are not expected to leave the country and return when they have been granted that extension,” Sobers explained. “As far as I am informed there was no response from the ministry with and the Missionaries were awaiting confirmation on whether or not their stay had been extended.”

Sobers also said that there are Missionaries who were granted extensions of stay and were in possession of valid work permits. The Mormons, he maintained, were not in breach of Guyana’s Laws and always followed the rules and regulation of any place to which they are assigned.

Cycle of Service

It is highly unlikely for Missionaries to stay more than two years in any given country unless they are the elder members of the Church, Sobers told Stabroek News yesterday as he explained the normal cycle of service followed by the Church. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from all over the world, according to Sobers, are required to give two years of service. When the necessary immigration processes are complete and a member receives their document they are then assigned to a geographical location. Missionaries, Sobers added, can stay for as little as three months and up to two years provided that they are granted permission by their host country. The younger Missionaries, he explained, are more likely to stay in one place for shorter periods of time as it is easier for them to travel.

Sobers noted that the section of the statement by the ministry, which reported that some Missionaries overstayed their time here and did not possess valid work permits since November 2004, April 2005, April 2007, January 2008 and March 2009, is questionable. He said that a Missionary would not have been in Guyana since 2004 or 2005 since this exceeds the maximum two year period. “It is very unlikely that the same missionary would have remained in Guyana since 2004 because a five-year period would have elapsed and no missionary stays in one place that long,” he stated.

Meanwhile, in a post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, government spokesperson Roger Luncheon also noted that the Missionaries worked on a rotation system. They come here, are accredited and permitted to stay for “a variable period of time” and they are replaced by a new set, he said. “There’s no missionary that is in Guyana for a decade,” Luncheon said when questioned. “You stop being a missionary and you become a resident…They are granted a stay for a variable period of time and are granted renewals.”

At the end of that time, Luncheon said, the missionaries themselves will say they are ready to go home or will have to go home because of countries’ laws.

Assault on religious community

Meanwhile, the main opposition party PNCR yesterday condemned the detention and expulsion of the Missionaries, saying the disregard for due process has severe implications for the rule of law. Noting that the Church has been operating in the country for more than two decades, PNCR leader Robert Corbin said the arbitrary actions of the government should be considered an assault on the religious community. He told reporters during a news conference at Congress Place that all Guyanese, and in particular religious organizations, should take note of the incident, since there is need to ensure government is held accountable. “So we can hold our heads high when we travel abroad and ask for equitable treatment in those countries,” he said, while warning, “It is quite possible Guyanese could be the loser in all these shenanigans.”

According to Corbin, the PNCR intends to give moral support because of the work of the Church, which he said has been engaged in social projects in this country, providing support to many communities, including those in hinterland areas. He also emphasized that citizens should be concerned that the actions of the law enforcement authorities disregarded due process by denying the missionaries the right to exhaust all legal appeals.

Meanwhile, newly-elected PNCR Vice-Chairperson Dr George Norton said that the incident sets a bad example even as the administration criticizes similar treatment of Guyanese by regional and extra-regional governments. According to him, the PNCR was reliably informed that members of the Church have been complying with the law and have used the relevant procedures to represent their interests. “What is evident, however, is an apparent vendetta by the PPP/C Administration towards this religious body, which has been carrying out religious and social development activities in Guyana for more than two decades,” he emphasized.

Norton charged that the government’s official report of the episode also deliberately misinforms about what transpired, therefore raising questions about the motivations of the PPP/C administration. He questioned: “…Why would the PPP/C administration carry out this vendetta against an established Church group that has been involved in providing tremendous humanitarian and economic assistance to many communities in Guyana?”

He said there are suggestions that the act is one of the ways that the administration has agreed to respond to the withdrawal of the US Visas from certain officials including Former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj. Further, he said there are also suggestions that the actions of the government is in retaliation for the US government’s treatment of Roger Khan and the recent exposure of Guyana government in the US Courts.

In these circumstances, Norton said the nation deserves a truthful explanation from the government, and he said the party is calling on President Bharrat Jagdeo for a full and complete statement on the matter.

Jagdeo, according to the Home Affairs Ministry, convened a meeting at the Office of the President on Wednesday with Rohee and two High Representatives of the church to resolve the issue after the missionaries were detained. The Ministry said Church representatives were told that the laws of the land must be respected by all and that there was no intention to deport the 50, who will leave the country voluntarily within one month.

Referring to the involvement of President Jagdeo, Norton argued that it was again evidence of his continuous disregard for the law, the constitution and the judiciary. According to him, the very fact that after refusing to accept the court order, President Jagdeo invited two of the religious representatives to deliver his personal “30-day clemency period” for their departure, demonstrates that he is above the law.