23 May 2009

US offers to resume migration talks with Cuba

1:03 pm on 23 May 2009

The United States has offered to resume migration talks with Cuba.

Discussions on the issue were suspended in 2003.

A 1995 migration accord between Havana and Washington says Cuban migrants to the United States who are intercepted at sea should be sent back to Cuba or to a third country. Those who make it to US soil should be allowed to stay in the United States.

The US has had an economic embargo on Cuba for 47 years.

In April, President Barack Obama lifted travel and money transfer restrictions on Americans with relatives in Cuba. However, the embargo is still in place.