By Public Submission
The below graph does not account for Guyanese who illegally crossed the border into neighboring countries and moved on to other countries. Tens of thousands of Guyanese illegally migrated annually during the late 1970s and thru the 1990s into Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil without passing through any border controls or official border crossings. It was known as backtrack. A estimated 100K made such crossings.
From Suriname, they migrated to French Guiana eventually making it to France and Caribbean territories. From Suriname, they also made it to Holland and other European countries as well as to Dutch Caribbean territories like St Martin, Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. Back track or illegal migration from Guyana to Suriname continued during the 2000s and only stopped a few years ago as Guyana’s economy rebounded from near bankruptcy. Guyanese continued to migrate into Venezuela and Brazil illegally up until a decade ago. Guyanese Venezuelans, those who migrated from Guyana and children born of Guyanese parents, have been re-migrating or returning to Guyana by the thousands over the last decade as the economy of Venezuela collapses. It is estimated that over 50K Venezuelans have settled in Guyana over the last decade and more are expected as Guyana’s economy continues to grow.
