Africans still stuck in Barbados months after plane fails to show

A group of West Africans have been stranded on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

The group arrived in February on the first direct flight from Ghana to the Caribbean for a two-week trip. But the holidaymakers found themselves stranded when their scheduled Ghana International flight failed to arrive.

About 70 of the original group of 149 are thought to have been detained at a military base amid fears that some have not reported to authorities.

One of the group, Osa Agbonicota from Nigeria, said she went to the airport on 15 February but the plane did not arrive. "They promised to come back for us but up to now they have not come," she said.

She said she spent two and a half months at the airport before being moved to the Paragon military base, where conditions were very difficult. "Insects were crawling around the rooms and the compound and we had to take all our bedsheets off," she said.

She said the government of Barbados told them they would be sent back to West Africa but had taken them to the military base to ensure they were all in the same place.