Cuban Families Grapple with Migration Reform

Cuban Families Grapple with Migration Reform
By Ivet González

HAVANA, Oct 20 2012 (IPS) - Her voice is calm. She no longer has any
question that her "destiny" is to live outside of Cuba. "My father is
getting older every day. It's time for me to help him," the 27-year-old
woman tells IPS, commenting on her plans to emigrate and become her
family's provider.

"He went to Mexico in 1992 and since then, he has been supporting the
family on his own," says the young scientist, who prefers not to give
her name. "I wish I could support him in the future with what I earn
here as an agricultural researcher," she said with regret, speaking a
few days before making a visit to the United States that could become
permanent.

Her father, an industrial engineer, went abroad to support his family
during the economic crisis that broke out in Cuba in the early 1990s,
with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and whose effects are still felt
today.

"I wouldn't want to repeat that story," she says. "My mother and other
relatives are here. If I get a job and the new migration law allows me
to travel freely, I'll come back."

Many Cubans are reviewing their plans for the future as they grapple
with the magnitude of change implied by the easing of travel
restrictions announced by the government of Raúl Castro on Tuesday, Oct.
16. They are especially hoping that the new law will assuage the need
for reuniting families that have been separated by emigration.

Cuban families "experience the migration process very intensely; it is a
traumatic thing for them," psychologist Consuelo Martín told IPS. That
is why family needs should be taken into account in migration policy,
which has taken a new turn with the reform of legislation that was in
place since 1976.
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As of Jan. 14, 2013, the red tape for travelling outside of Cuba for
personal reasons will be reduced, with the elimination of the
requirement for two documents: a letter of invitation from abroad and an
exit permit. Now, Cubans will only have to show a valid passport –
although they will also need a visa, required by the immense majority of
countries.

But under the new law, special travel restrictions will remain in place
for high performance athletes, government officials, members of the
military, university graduates, and certain professionals and technicians.

Some of the new measures take into account recommendations that have
been made repeatedly by researchers like Martín, who proposes
"contextualising migration policies within the challenges of the 21st
century and the economic and socio-political dynamics of Cuba today." In
fact, Cuban authorities have announced further, unspecified changes in
this respect in the near future.

Emigration needs to become an increasingly "normalised" process in Cuban
society, said Martín, who works at the University of Havana's Centre for
the Study of Human Health and Welfare. Generally speaking, families see
emigration as a "legitimate" aspiration of one or more of their members,
she said.

The Cuban émigré community spans more than 150 countries and is the
equivalent of about 10 percent of the island's current population of
11.2 million, according to analyst Antonio Aja. In 2011, the migration
balance was negative for Cuba by 39,263 people, the highest such figure
since 1994, according to official sources.

An estimated one in four Cubans living here have at least one family
member abroad.

Decree-law 302 brings the Cuban diaspora closer by eliminating the entry
permit for emigrants who have current passports, permitting them to
visit for a longer period – up to three months, with possible extensions
– and establishing a mechanism for those who wish to move back to the
island.

But some controversial issues are still pending, such as the elimination
of the category of "permanent" or "definitive" departure, and the
creation of permits to live abroad. Currently, if Cuban residents stay
overseas for 24 months, their departure is automatically seen as
permanent, and they lose their rights and assets on the island.

"Maybe I can obtain non-permanent migration status," said the young
scientist. "I want to be with my father, who has been so wonderful.

"This whole time, he has taken care of us, compared to others who forget
about the family that they leave behind," said the young woman, who has
been dealing with the absence of her father since she was seven years
old. "It was very hard at first. We learned how to live with it, but we
never really got over it. My mother never had another solid partner, and
my father concentrated on his work."

The psychologist, Martín, said that whenever the issue of migration
comes up, "it's always a sore spot for someone. Even when a family
member's decision to emigrate was agreed and understood by everyone,
absences are felt, especially by those left behind," she said. The human
face hidden behind the statistics needs to be shown, she added.

During the initial decades following the 1959 revolution, emigration had
an "ideological and political" connotation, leading to many family
break-ups, even though many were subsequently reunited, Martín said.
Beginning in the 1990s, the main motivation for emigrating has been
economic.

Since then, family ties — between Cuba and the diaspora — tend to be
maintained, with some exceptions, she noted. That is why a good number
of those who emigrate come back for visits and fight for family
reunification once they have settled into their new place of residence.

According to the results of studies led by Martín more than 15 years
ago, "the way that family members relate to each other changed. The
father or mother is physically absent, but continues to be present by
providing support, gifts and economic help, and through communication by
means of email and the telephone."

Sometimes, "from here, the émigré is economically supported. For
example, many young people face difficulties adapting to their new
society, due to a lack of resources. Their families here support them,
even though that might seem almost impossible because of Cuba's economic
crisis," Martín said.

The youngest son of a retired woman who gave her name as Luisa María
Ramírez sometimes receives remittances from his parents in Havana. "He
went to Peru over a year ago, and he has not been able to prosper," the
woman, who works part-time in a privately-owned restaurant, told IPS.
"Whenever we can, we send him something.

"Only one of my three children is here with me," Ramírez said. Seven
years ago, she bid farewell to her older daughter, who lives in the
United States. "She hardly needed any help. Now we just want our
children who live outside Cuba to come and see us, and for the one who's
here to stay with us," she said.

http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/cuban-families-grapple-with-migration-reform/