Over 800,000 Cubans travel abroad after five years of migration reform

HAVANA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 819,749 Cubans have traveled abroad in the last five years after Havana approved in January 2013 a landmark migratory reform that allows its people to visit any country in the world.

According to a report published on Tuesday in Granma daily, the nation's influential newspaper, Cuban authorities would continue to work to "update and modernize" its migratory policy.

"Despite the hostility of the new U.S. administration and the implementation of measures that hamper the flow of people between the two countries, Cuba continues to update its migration policy to adapt it to the new times run and ensure that it occurs in a legal, orderly and safe way," the daily said in a report.

As part of the measures approved five years ago, Havana made easier for its emigrated citizens to return to the country and establish legal residence once again.

Just in 2017, 11,476 Cubans living abroad decided to permanently return to live in Cuba.

In the last five years, over 1.5 million Cubans that live in the U.S. have made at least one trip to the island while just in 2017 that figure reached 432,786. Enditem