THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150019
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
I am a civilian dependent evacuee from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I have come to accept that my three children and I will be separated from my husband, their father, for an unknown period, as he remains in Guantanamo Bay in hope of us being able to return there. I've accepted having to leave many of our belongings and the children's toys behind.
What I am having a difficult time accepting is how much this evacuation and separation is costing us financially. To help us with the evacuation and relocation, the government allowed us to receive an advance in pay, realizing that the families involved were not capable of meeting the financial burden at the time.
The government is now deducting repayment of the advanced pay each payday. Many of the evacuee families are supporting a household here while their spouses live in their homes in Guantanamo. This is hard to accept, considering that the government is in the process of spending $27 million to upgrade the refugee camps in Guantanamo; this in addition to $20 million each month since September 1994 to provide temporary housing, medical care and Joint Task Force personnel for the Cuban and Haitian refugees.
Why is it that America's government always seems to want to take better care of those from other countries while ignoring the needs of its own citizens?
FRANCES I. BEAUBIEN
Virginia Beach, Jan. 23, 1995 by CNB