By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

HAVANA, Cuba – Cuban children of medical professionals domiciled in the United States are being prevented by the Cuban government from being reunited with their parents. The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), a U.S. group that represents Cubans in exile, has criticized the Cuban government of holding the children hostage in Cuba even though many of them have U.S. visas.

A 2006 Homeland Security policy allows Cuban doctors and medical professionals living abroad legally to bring spouses and children to the U.S., but this has been made nearly impossible because the Cuban government refuses to grant exit visas according to a 2005 report by the Human Rights Watch. The children are being denied visas because many of the doctors living abroad have been classified as traitors by the Cuban government for their failure to return to Cuba after being sent to work in government-sponsored events or missions overseas.

CANF representatives plan to file formal complaints against the Cuban government with international organizations such as the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Cuban Doctors Say Children Held Hostage – 18 November 2008

Miami Herald – Cuba Won’t Let Our Kids Leave, Medical Workers Say – 18 November 2008

Miami Herald – Cuban Doctors: Children Kept From Leaving Island – 18 November 2008