LDS missionaries may be deported from Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Some three dozen missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were detained Wednesday in the South American country of Guyana because police said they did not have updated travel documents.

Most are U.S. citizens and will be given one month to leave before they are deported, Police Chief Henry Greene said. He declined further comment.

The group included one senior couple — the rest are young-adult missionaries.

Initial reports are that 38 missionaries were involved in Wednesday's action, but it was unclear if that 38 included the couple.

The group is among the estimated 100 missionaries serving the LDS Church in Guyana.

"We are aware that some missionaries have been questioned in Guyana over new visa regulations," said LDS spokesman Scott Trotter in Salt Lake City.

"All missionaries are now back in their apartments," Trotter said. "We are working with Guyana and U.S. authorities to reach an amicable solution."

Agence France-Presse reported that Guyanan President Bharrat Jagdeo met Wednesday with LDS Church and mission leaders after the arrests but did not speak to reporters.

AFP also quoted Greene as saying the missionaries had failed to extend their missionary status with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"It does come as a surprise, but I don't want to speculate as to a reason" for the arrests, acting U.S. ambassador Karen Williams said, prior to the missionaries being released on Wednesday.

A lawyer for the missionaries, Nigel Hughes, said he filed a motion with the courts and a judge issued an injunction blocking police from expelling the missionaries beginning today.

"As far as I am aware, no specific reason has been given for their action," Hughes told reporters outside the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department after the missionaries were detained early Wednesday.

It was unclear what prompted the arrests. No incidents involving the missionaries were reported prior to their detainment. Prior to their release Wednesday night, they could be heard singing from their cells, with the Associated Press reporting the song to be "We Shall Overcome," a gospel song that became a protest anthem in the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement.

The church emissaries committed no known crimes and were simply doing missionary work, said attorney Leslie Sobers, a local LDS Church spokeswoman in Guyana.

U.S. citizens traveling to Guyana need a valid U.S. passport, and immigration officials usually grant visitors a 30-day stay, according to the U.S. Department of State.

In Guyana for more than two decades, the LDS Church has supported community agriculture and provided humanitarian relief in the country.

AFP reported Wednesday that the church "in the past has collaborated with Guyana's main opposition Peoples National Congress Reform in providing donations to the poor."

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