Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Anayansi Rodríguez emphasized on Monday her country's commitment to maintaining safe, orderly, and regular migratory flows, even during Covid-19, and denounced the hostile U.S. policy in this regard.

Havana, Cuba.- The diplomat stated this position in a virtual event organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Rodríguez reiterated "the negative impact caused by the politicization of migratory relations with Cuba by the United States, causing incentives for irregular and risky migration."

The deputy minister denounced the continuation of the Cuban Adjustment Act, the U.S. failure to comply with the commitments made on migration issues, the suspension of consular services of the U.S. embassy in Havana, and the hindrance to commercial flights and remittances.

During the online meeting, participants conducted a regional review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, a document adopted in 2018.

Rodríguez recalled that before the Covid-19, Cuba ensured "the safe return of many Cubans stranded in other countries", and facilitated migration procedures in this regard.

The Havana Foreign Ministry official rejected the blockade policy applied by Washington against the island, which "constitutes a flagrant violation of its most elementary human rights and a stimulus to irregular emigration."

She also condemned the "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" to which "thousands of migrants are subjected at the southern border of the United States." (RHC)