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During the past two decades there has been an
unprecedented mass emigration of people out of Guyana to North America.
An average
of 6,080 people a year emigrated from Guyana between 1969 and 1976, increasing to
an average of 14,400 between 1976 and 1981. Figures for 1976 showed 43
percent of the emigrants going to the United States, 31 percent to
Canada, 10 percent to Britain, and 9 percent to the
Caribbean.
Deteriorating economic and political conditions caused emigration to increase
even more sharply
in the 1980s. Unofficial estimates put the number leaving the country in
the late 1980s at 10,000 to 30,000 annually. Many of these emigrants
were middle-class professionals, who opposed government
policies. This was a significant and permanent loss of vitally skilled
individuals.
As many as 30,000 Guyanese
continue to emigrate to the USA annually.
It is astonishing that more than half of the people of Guyana, over
700,000 individuals, have emigrated; 350,000 chose to
relocate to the USA. Truly a massive emigration. Guyana's population growth is
now in the
negative. Only 650,000 people remain in Guyana. According to
some studies, of those people who remain in Guyana, almost each and
every one of them is awaiting the issuance of an immigrant-visa for the
USA!
More than 100,000 Guyanese have already become United
States citizens by fulfilling the statutory requirements of naturalization. The
overwhelming majority of these individuals support the legal
incorporation of Guyana into the USA, in the form of US Statehood,
Commonwealth or Territory of the USA. That newly created legal
entity would be known as Guyana, USA.
In 10 or 15 years, Guyana will be emptied of
most of its remaining population. The majority of Guyanese will be
living in the USA. What shall become of its national
identity? Will Guyana be divided up between Venezuela on the west,
Brazil on the South and Suriname (formerly Dutch Guyana) on the East?
The history, culture, and territory of Guyana can only be protected and
preserved if Guyana is legally incorporated into the USA! Take a look at the New
Guyana Flag!
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