Gya: Coming to America

Twenty-seven Guyanese are among 100,000 persons from across the globe selected as winners of the US green card lottery for 2004.

The lucky entrants were selected randomly from over 9.5 million entries worldwide, submitted between November 1, 2003, and December 30, 2003. They are now required to lodge an immigrant visa application to begin efforts to process their status.

However, before the winners are granted US immigrant visas they will have to provide evidence of a high school diploma or show two years of work experience in a job that requires at least two years of training and experience, a release on the lottery said.

Unsuccessful applicants may apply for next year's lottery programme, details of which will be announced later this month.

Meanwhile, a perusal of the list of successful nations sees the continent of Africa with some 45,712 selected being recipients of the most lottery awards.

This included Nigeria with 6,725 successful entrants, Egypt 6,070 and Ethiopia 6,060.

However, the country with the largest number of persons is Bangladesh with 7,404 successful applicants.

In Europe, Poland with 6,211 successful applicants is the country with the largest amount with the former Russian Republic of Ukraine with 5,361 following closely behind.

Australia had 787 persons and Fiji 530.

In South and Central America and the Caribbean, Peru topped with 2,514 successful applicants followed by Cuba, 674 and Brazil, 592.

For the immediate Carib-bean Community region only Trinidad and Tobago with 96 places received more than Guyana.

How many Islamic nuts are amongst the lucky recipients, I wonder. The wife of Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, and he wound up killing two at LAX. Seems to me there ought to be a moratorium on the whole visa lottery program, or at least one restricted to Islamic countries. Britain is doing the same to Pakistan and refusing to grant visas to Pakistanis of madrassa age, the under 25 crowd. Britain would do well to just make it a blanket ban.