Visa waiver for El Salvador a foolish decision by Barbados Government

 

“In El Salvador, Sanchez found an environment where gang culture was thriving. Just two years earlier, the Chapultepec Peace Accords had ended more than a decade of civil war, but the country remained violent. The homicide rate stood at 139 per 100,000 in 1995 — far higher than any country in the world today. El Salvador’s public institutions were hobbled and its families broken up by both war and migration.”

… Huffington Post: How the U.S. sparked a refugee crisis on the Border

What possible benefit is there to Barbados?

Riddle me this…

• Barbados has just signed a visa waiver agreement with El Salvador. El Salvadorian citizens can now come to Barbados without a visa and without the pre-approval process that part of the visa application.
• El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in Central America – struggling to recover from decades of civil war, death squads, revenge and criminal gangs.
• There is a documented steady flow of illegal migrants / refugees / child soldiers from El Salvador to the USA and other countries in the region. People are desperate to leave El Salvador, and any cursory google search shows why.
• Due to government corruption, societal violence and hostile policies against business, El Salvador has the lowest level of foreign investment in any Central American country. Homicides, kidnappings and extortions increased over 30% in 2009.

So what are we gaining? Does the upside justify the risk?

Welcome to the rule of the Bajan political class… Shut up. Sit down and don’t ask any of these damning and inconvenient questions!

Further Reading

August 12, 2014: The Deadly, Invisible Borders Inside El Salvador

Time for the Barbados Revegetation and Restoration Act

by Born B’badian

Bajans used to have big mouths, and gossip would spread faster than lightning.  It worked to help keep people straight, cause nobody wanted to be known as a crook or a thief. But reputations dont matter anymore in Bim. Furthermore, Bajans so busy buying and building bigass houses they can’t afford to furnish properly, and bussing their behinds to pay for, that they do not pay attention to what is going on in the country.

Bajans were never victims like I see now. They were always quick to open they mouth and cuss you out or land somebody a blow longside their head for doing them wrong. But now, the process has changed where people putting well known fall down drunks to run the country and crooked lawyers to handle the money matters of the country. The old people who sweat in the canefields to make Barbados a good place to live must be ready to jump out the grave with a fresh tamarind rod to beat everybody behind.

The people in Bim who still living sweet, are the ones who fix their little house good, and still have money in their pocket. They still planting a little kitchen garden and some fruit trees, instead of wasting precious land with front lawn. It is a sin to be importing vegetables and fruit, even seasonings from other islands while only grass growing on a big patch of land, taking up water, and keeping the place hotter than the devil’s hell.

Bajan’s got to stop letting foreigners buy their land, its the only thing we really own. People can’t go to Singapore and do this. Errol Barrow, God rest his soul, tried to base Barbados off of Singapore, but the current corrupt in power let toutmebackIlah samcouche and the duppy, get citizenship, buy land and do whatever they want on the island. Of course, bajan’s vote them in like loyal beggars blinded by cornbeef politics.  Ain’t no community spirit anymore, cause everybody lockup in their big house hiding that they eating saltfish and breadfruit and can’t pay the bills, or thiefing and whoring to pay them bills.

Shanique Myrie inquiry – Barbados environmental officer part of Immigration scam?

Questions about Barbados Environmental Officer Daniel Forde

by One Who Knows

The story is still developing but from the reports in the local news, questions are being asked about the role of Daniel Forde “a senior government environmental officer” in the Shanique Myrie fiasco.

Jamaican Myrie was denied entry into Barbados and held in Immigration custody. She has alleged mistreatment by Bajan authorities, including being “finger raped” during a search for drugs.

Bajan Pamela Clarke testified that neighbour Daniel Forde asked her to be available when his friend Myrie arrived from Jamaica in case Mryrie couldn’t get hold of Forde. But while Clarke agreed to this she did not know that Myrie was providing her name and address as the person who invited her to Barbados and where she would be staying.

Myrie lied to Immigration officers, saying that she had been talking to Pamela Clarke on the internet for two months. That was not true as they had never spoken or emailed.

Although Bajan government official Daniel Forde had something to do with Shanique Myrie traveling to Barbados, it seems Forde and Myrie did not want the Immigration officials to know that.

Why Not?

Testimony says that Myrie lied to Immigration Officials about her relationship with Pamela Clarke, and so far it testimony says that Myrie didn’t offer Forde’s name as her real host.

So Myrie was not truthful with Immigration and Forde was in on that plan to not be truthful. That is what it looks like so far.

Why weren’t Forde and Myrie straight with Immigration officials? Is this about human trafficking and Forde, a Barbados government official, is involved? Is this about Myrie is his little squeeze on the side that Forde didn’t want someone else to know about? Or is it something altogether innocent, mistakes made because somebody assumed something and said the wrong thing?

There’s more questions than answers right now, but if it shapes up that Forde was part of some plan to not tell the truth to Immigration, then Bajans should be asking themselves if Forde should keep that nice cushy government job of his.

The inquiry continues…

BFP’s readers can head over to Barbados Today as that news source has published many articles about Shanique Myrie. Check out Never knew Myrie.

We’re going to reprint the whole article here because you know how it is folks – if we don’t sure enough the original article will change or disappear a common happening with the Bajan news media. Readers should first head over to Barbados Today as they deserve your click please. 

Barbados citizenship still a whimsical process where luck and who you know count more than law

by a Bajan Citizen

I am a dual citizen (my parents were both Bajan born and raised) and have been trying to register my daughter as a dual citizen in order to make it easier for her to go to University in Barbados, a desire she has had since a small child. I started the process in 2008 – I continue to go to Immigration every few months and they keep putting me off.

In 2010, after discovering that they lost the original application, I successfully resubmitted the information and still do not have any idea of a resolution. I was told at first that all was fine, but whispers are in the air that now it seems that there are some changes coming to the laws that may affect this. I was also told that there are thousands of “Citizenship by Registration” cases that this will affect – and all of these pending applications are in limbo.

It seems to be a dirty little secret that Government is holding – maybe a party issue that will be raised in the next election? The people have a right to know! And for me, the laws of 2008 are what my particular application should be judged against. Why hold onto applications while you decided if you are going to change the law?

Barbados Free Press, please post this issue so that others like me can have some idea of what is going on – maybe a reader has some insight. My Bajan bloodline is one that my daughter and I respect with pride. It represents a legacy of my ancestors is one that I hope will not end with me (though she does plan to move back one day to have her first child to refresh our Bajan roots-by-law).

Immigration Reform: Another aborted DLP promise

Back in October 2009, then Prime Minister David Thompson placed before Parliament and the nation a paper “A Comprehensive Review of Immigration Policy and Proposals for Legislative Reform”. Thompson revealed that many immigration cases hadn’t been touched in 12 years and that the whole process was “whimsical” and dependent not upon law or rules, but upon the discretion of government employees.

Prime Minister Thompson said that the issue was “urgent”.

And in typical government fashion on this rock that was the last that was heard of that.

We must not forget though that the chaos of our immigration system was built by the Barbados Labour Party under Owen Arthur. The DLP merely carried on the fine tradition started by King Arthur.

Immigration debate rages on

Where does compassion stop and idiocy begin?

Two BFP regulars are squaring off in the comments section. Mark L Fenty Sr. is calling for some sensitivity for our Caribbean brothers and sisters “visiting” Barbados. Another reader, “Observer” has had enough of illegal immigration.

Observer praises the DLP government’s recent decision to restrict health care, saying “Thank God that there was a change of Government else our social services would have been under further strain to cope.”

We’ve taken editor’s license to clean up some of the spelling and missed words that happen in the heat of debate and we’ve added the titles and subtitles too. If we’ve changed any meanings, I’m sure our friends Mark and Observer will let us know.

“DING!!! Round Two. FIGHT!!!…”

Illegal immigration problem caused by a failure to police the system.

by Mark L. Fenty Sr.

To those people who believe that Barbados isn’t going to reach a state of economic decline to the point where thousands of Barbadians are going to be flooding the more prosperous islands of the Caribbean: think again. This I believe is going to be directly attributed to the antiquated tourist industry that Barbados relies on so heavily for its foreign exchange, coupled with our insensitivity toward our fellow Caribbean nationals who reside in Barbados in an illegal status.

One more step towards Barbadian citizenship

Jane Shattuck-Hoyos is all excited!

We just noticed that our Yank-in-Bim friend received her Reside and Work status some six months after applying for citizenship and the girl is happy. You often hear reports of people waiting ten or twelve years for citizenship or even residence permits, so maybe things are looking up with Immigration’s efficiency.

“I’m glad citizenship isn’t easy. I’m glad it’s not a given. If everyone who wanted it was granted it, there’d be 10 million citizens of this paradise.

I am honored. (Hm, with my new status, will I have to start spelling this honoured?)”

Head on over to Planet Barbados and read Jane’s Almost a Bajan

Jamaican women welcome in Barbados if they submit to a finger up their vagina?

UPDATED: March 27, 2011 10:14 pm

Barbados Government: “Shanique Myrie is lying. There was no body cavity search”

After three days of investigations, however, McClean told reporters:“There is absolutely no truth to a story carried in a Jamaican newspaper on Thursday, March 24, that a female citizen of that country was body-searched by Immigration officers on arrival at the Grantley Adams International Airport.”

In a prepared statement, she added: “Chief Immigration Officer Ms Erine Griffith has refuted this allegation made in the Jamaica Observer. She has confirmed that her department and Customs ‘have carried out extensive investigations and the claims were baseless’.”

From The Nation story: Finger Rape Claim Untrue

Shanique Myrie: “I am not lying. They are the ones who are lying”

“I am not lying. They humiliated me and searched me like I was an animal. They can carry me back to the Barbados airport and I can show you every room they took me into. I can identify the woman who defiled me. They are the ones who are lying,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Shanique Myrie in the Nation News: Jamaican Myrie plans to sue

UPDATED: March 25, 2011 3:57 am

Barbados Government says Shanique Myrie involved in Human Trafficking

“No record” of vaginal search.

The Barbados government issued a statement late last night about the Myrie incident. Does “no record” mean the vaginal search never happened or does it mean something else? We’ll be watching this story closely, but as we said before…

“Even if Ms. Myrie was suspected and then deported for good reason such as gang affiliation or crimes committed in Jamaica, she deserves to be treated with human dignity.”

That dignity is not only about ensuring that when necessary, cavity searches are performed by qualified personnel under as clean and dignified circumstances as possible, it’s also about a bare foam mattress with no bed linen, no shower etc.

Barbados scored badly in the latest Trafficking in Persons Report, so on one hand it is good to see the authorities paying attention to the problem. On the other hand, as the Trafficking in Persons Report states, one of the big problems with prosecuting the traffickers is that the first reaction by authorities is to immediately deport the witness, in this case Ms. Myrie.

It looks like our leaders need to read that Trafficking in Persons Report again because rather than charging the Bajan male trafficker mentioned by government, they sent the witness back so the trafficker will continue in business.

As the TIP Report says of Barbados:

“Law enforcement and immigration officials continued to summarily deport undocumented foreigners without determining whether they are trafficking victims, the government opened no investigations into possible cases of sex or labor trafficking, and it did not prosecute any trafficking cases during the year. Therefore, Barbados is placed on tier 2 Watch List.”

… from page 73 of the Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 (available at US Dept. of State link here)

Our original story…

Is our title really so provocative if it is the truth?

Jamaican Shanique Myrie (photo above) flew into Barbados on March 14, 2011. Upon arrival, she was strip-searched and then a female Barbados Immigration officer shoved her finger into her vagina twice while continuously spewing venom about Jamaicans, according to Ms. Myrie.

Attention Barbados Chief Immigration Officer: Objection to granting of work permit for Super Centre

by Robert D. Lucas

Recently, on the call-in program “Down to Brass Tacks” of 11^th February 2011, there was some discussion about the merits of an application for a work permit for a “Fresh Food Specialist,” as advertised for by Super Centre Limited. As a result, someone from the firm called the program, to clarify the nature of the requirements for the job. These requirements included a knowledge of fresh as well as delicatessen food handling capabilities.

Let me first of all, declare an interest, having in the past, taught members of the Environmental Health Department (EHD) of the Ministry of Health at the Barbados Community College (BCC). Students are first required to do an associate degree in public health and then the post graduate diploma in a programme called “Meats and other Foods.”

Barbados employees ask “Where is the manager’s work permit?”

Where is his work permit?

We the employees of an Insurance Company situated (removed by BFP) which has a slogan (removed by BFP), were made to understand that our newly appointed Manager who have been here since June, 2010, does not have a valid work permit and he is writing and signing letters hiring and firing people. 

Barbados Immigration officer: Evil? Misogynist? Racist? Stupid? You decide.

UPDATED: November 11, 2010 9am Bridgetown

We see that Jane Shattuck Hoyos has taken down her story at Planet Barbados. While we hope to hear more on this development, we want to let Jane know that if we never hear anything else about it from her, we and everyone else on this island understands. And now, probably, Jane understands too. That’s why BFP remains an anonymous blog.

“I didn’t sleep that night … I’d been humiliated, shamed, and harassed at the hands of an individual who, because he could, did. For him, it was sport. He never cited a single transgression.”

… Barbados resident, business person and investor – Jane Shattuck Hoyos

Welcome home bitch…

There is no excuse in the world for what happened to Jane Shattuck Hoyos upon her return to Barbados last Wednesday night.

Yes, our Immigration officers have a job to do. They protect our country, our economy and our communities from the negative impacts of uncontrolled immigration. They must be questioning, knowledgeable and skilled to see through false documents and lies. They must take their duties seriously.

All of that is a given and Jane says so – but what an Immigration Officer did to her last Wednesday night is totally unacceptable and, sadly, an all too common story heard from arriving visitors and residents alike.

It sounds to us like this Immigration officer is a power-tripping, egotistical little dictator: full of himself and drunk with power and authority. He probably had a good laugh about what he did to Jane. Maybe some of his colleagues laughed too.

There is no way that this was the first time for this Immigration officer. He probably does the same thing to other women traveling alone. He targets them for sport. He enjoys himself.

His supervisors likely already know that he’s a problem child.

Sir Cliff Richard now a Barbados citizen – Telegraph UK

When did this happen?

Being a British “non-resident” and living in Barbados is one thing. Becoming a full citizen of Barbados is another.

Today Bill Latham, the spokesman for Sir Cliff Richard, is reported in The Telegraph to have confirmed that Sir Cliff is a full citizen of Barbados.

Is this report correct? Did I miss it in the Barbados news media?

Almond Resorts says not one Barbadian is good enough for any of these positions

UPDATED: March 8, 2011

Barbadians “suitable” to clean toilets, mind babies at Almond Resorts, but not good enough for management!

How is it possible that no Barbadian is “suitable” to work as Executive Chef, Director of Food & Beverage, Executive Assistant Manager or Director of Hotel Operations at Almond Resorts?

This story from last September is front and center again and we do not and will not accept Almond Resorts’ claim that no “suitable” candidates can be found in Barbados in this downturn and with so many begging for work.

Oh, we smiling Bajans are suitable enough to clean toilets, roll out deck chairs, bring drinks to the wandering hands tourists and to mind their babies while our own children wait alone at home for mum to return. We’re just not good enough to supervise. Not trained enough, not experienced enough – just plain not qualified. Not one of us is good enough.

We won’t have any more of that nonsense from Almond Resorts, thank you very much. What about their in-house training and “career path” that they promise when they hire? They can hire or promote a Bajan or shut down for all I care. We’ve had enough of this nonsense.

Prime Minister Stuart… ARE YOU LISTENING?

(Check out Barbados Today’s story: Concealed racism)

BFP’s original story as published September 15, 2010…

“With the number of hotels closed down during the past few years and an economy that has relied so heavily upon tourism for decades, it is unbelievable that Almond Resorts Inc. could not find even one Barbadian ‘suitable’ for any of these positions. This is an outrage. Where is our government on this? Where are our community and labour leaders?”

… editorial comment by Barbados Free Press

No Suitable Local Candidates for Tourism Jobs – I STRONGLY OBJECT!

by Mark Brathwaite

I was looking at one of the leading local print publications over the last week and was absolutely surprised and disgusted to see the number of applications for work permits for various positions at the Almond Hotel Properties. The advertised positions were, Executive Chef, Executive Assistant Manager, Director of Hotel Operations and Director of Food and Beverage.

Now I cannot for one minute believe that given Tourism has been our number one business for years, and the number of Barbadians graduating from institutions and gaining experience over the years at our local hotels, that no suitable locals can be found to fill this many Tourism related positions.

In 2010?

An American applies for Barbados citizenship… How long will it take?

American Jane Shattuck married Bajan Greg Hoyos and now Jane has applied for Bajan citizenship… a process that is neither easy nor quick NOR SHOULD IT BE EASY OR QUICK!

But… (and here’s the catch) applying for Barbados citizenship should have a predictable path and time line and known standard requirements. Good luck to Jane as she begins her journey. We hope she blogs the details throughout the process so we can have a window on the current situation and the performance level of our immigration people.

Canadian turned Bajan has the last word on the PWC Barbados Globe and Mail story

Friends, some of you agreed with our coverage of the “Dark Days in Barbados“ story in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, and others thought we over-did it. A few readers hit the roof in anger – either at us or the newspaper depending on their feelings. Others thought we should leave Elaine Sibson alone, which is an interesting position considering Ms. Sibson was the one who volunteered to tell her personal story to the world via the Globe and Mail.

CTV Television and other Canadian outlets also carried Gordon Pitts’ “Dark days in Barbados”

For some reason this story generated very high attention with BFP’s readership and internationally. In the last 24 hours over five thousand people read each of our articles on the Globe and Mail story. There were many different opinions and perspectives. (As a side note, after reading the PWC stories, thousands of people stayed and read dozens of other articles here at Barbados Free Press.)

One BFP reader raised a point that we’d never considered and is, upon reflection, something that the Globe and Mail left out. It is a factor that might or might not have had a major influence on Ms. Sibson’s decision to move to Barbados and her subsequent trouble adjusting. We’ll let a BFP reader (and divorced father) say it for himself…

“She had a divorce, was awarded custody of her 12 year old daughter and what did she do? She requested a job thousands of miles away from the girl’s father. That sounds not nice to me and any other divorced father who knows the pain.

Move-Away Moms Harm Children

Moms who take their children and move away from their children’s fathers create life-long hardship for their children. Granted there are rare exceptions when a move may be warranted. But they far rarer than NOWers (National Organization of Women -ed) admit.

Generally, move-away-moms move primarily for their own best interest and not their children’s…”

… you can read his entire comment here: Nice Lady? Fathers’ Rights Now!

Food for thought, for sure.

But okay, it’s time to move on to other stories and we’ll do so now. Although the comments will remain open, this is the last BFP will say about the story. We’ll let the last word in our article be spoken by someone who disagrees with BFP’s coverage.

Dear Barbados Free Press,

Your less then stellar story on “Globe and Mail changes misleading website headline – print edition still proclaims “Dark Days in Barbados” has had me irritated all day.

I am a Canadian, presently living in Barbados, and am married to a Bajan, but, it hasn’t always been easy!

You want coverage and only good shining words about Barbados in all papers? Not gine ta happen ya.

I can sympathize with the woman as I to had to deal with the culture shock, it is up to the individual how they deal with it.

I’ve had to deal with the humiliation of being treated less then human by the Barbados immigration dept, in Bridgetown, this goes on daily there.

When coming to Barbados, working in a supervisory capacity, Bajan’s show a whole different side.

She wrote an article and her experience wasn’t all it could have been, but the article headline was hardly misleading! The fact that the paper changed the article headline is a fact of Canadians being nice to a fault.

(Sent via email to BFP. Name provided to BFP but not published by our editor)

Rumour Mill: Virgin Manager Flouting Immigration Rules – Working over 6 months in Barbados with no work permit!

UPDATED: April 9, 2010 – email from Virgin Atlantic confirms no work permit issued for Regional Manager. “Interim solution” worked out with authorities…

To the Moderator/s of The Barbados Free Press

Virgin Atlantic always complies with all employment laws and requirements for all of its employees worldwide. On the rare occasion when work permits cannot be issued immediately for staff, Virgin Atlantic would always work in conjunction with the relevant authorities to work out an acceptable interim solution, as has been done on this occasion.

We hope our position is clearer and will make no further comment on the issue here.

Barbados Free Press responds to Virgin Atlantic Airways

Dear Virgin Atlantic,

Thanks for getting back to us with a straight answer to a straight question. It’s so rare these days to find large corporations willing to talk with citizens and customers in a forthright manner. The way Virgin addressed our concerns certainly enhanced our already high perceptions about your company’s operations. (It would make my father cringe if he were still around, but I vastly prefer Virgin over BA or “BOAC” as Dad would still call it for a decade after the BEA/BOAC merger!)

We didn’t think that Virgin would be ignoring the laws of Barbados, but judging by your information it is the same old story that our civil service wouldn’t be able to do anything in a timely fashion if their lives depended on it.

But that’s our problem, not Virgin’s.

The larger concern for Barbados is whether or not the inefficiencies and shenanigans of our civil service is impacting the willingness of investors and employers to work with Barbados.

Once again, thanks for getting back to us.

Robert for Barbados Free Press

UPDATED: April 8, 2010 – Email received from Virgin Atlantic re this article

To the Moderator/s of Barbados Free Press

We have recently become aware of comments on your blog related to Virgin Atlantic Airways.  While we fully respect peoples right to their own opinion we are deeply concerned that unsubstantiated comments and unfounded allegations have been targeted at the Regional Manager, we believe that public personal attacks of this nature by anonymous people are highly unfair to the targeted individual/s concerned.  Virgin Atlantic would take very seriously any allegations of this nature.  As moderators of this site we would appreciate it if you could review all the comments and specifically give consideration to deleting elements of individual comments (some of which had previously been deleted by BFP Editors on the original post) as appropriate.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Barbados Free Press responds to Virgin Atlantic Airways

Dear Virgin Atlantic,

Thanks for your email. We hadn’t noticed but you were correct – one of our readers re-posted the entire letter in the comments section, including the three paragraphs that we had deleted for our article. It seems that the author of the original letter sent it to a number of blogs so it’s still floating around out there on the Internet.

We’ve taken down that reader comment as we originally removed the three paragraphs because as far as we’re concerned they crossed the line.

We hope that addresses your concern.

Now… while we’ve got you here, please tell us: Does your Barbados regional manager have a work permit or not?

Thanks!

Marcus, Barbados Free Press

Original story…

From an anonymous reader (so let’s see what other information we can develop to confirm or refute this story)

How is it that certain companies and certain ethnicities can behave how they want in Barbados and get away from it?

Virgin Atlantic, a company with a traditionally healthy respect for the ways of the Caribbean, has chosen to send down a new Regional Manager without a work permit first being issued!

What makes it worse is that this new regional manager…

(Three sentences removed by BFP editors)

Can we get the Immigration Department to correct this bad situation? I doubt it.

Barbados PM admits citizenship applications “not dealt with for over 12 years”

Prime Minister David Thompson admitted yesterday what anyone who has applied for Barbados citizenship in the past decade already knows: there really aren’t any clear rules and the system is a mess.

What Thompson didn’t say is how some people just sail right through the system and others never make it.

Money can grease the wheels sometimes, but other times it doesn’t seem to matter. Many folks – some rich and some ordinary – arrive in Barbados thinking that a decade of hard work and commitment, or marriage, will gain them citizenship as the law apparently says. I say “apparently” because, as the PM points out, there is a large element of “whimsical Ministerial or other discretionary and flimsy entitlements” that are in play.

So a word to foreign spouses, investors and retirees… whatever nice stories you’ve been told about obtaining Bajan citizenship aren’t worth the paper they’re not printed on.

Buy your house, promote the country, be a good sport and make a positive contribution to Barbados. Enjoy your 10 year vacation – because without citizenship your stay could end any time a government official gets “whimsical”. And that is the truth right from the Prime Minister’s mouth.

Good luck to the DLP government as they try to restructure a government service that is infested with the friends, relatives and supporters of the last BLP administration.

Read the Prime Minister’s press release: Barbados: Green paper on Immigration laid in house

Barbados Business Could Face Immigration Backlash Throughout Caribbean

Dear Barbados Free Press:

I will just state for the record that my job involves extensive travel throughout the Eastern Caribbean and I have been in the same job for over 11 years. Let me also state that I am for managed migration, however, I must admit that I have a soft spot for my Caribbean brothers and sisters having made genuine friends in all the EC countries that I visited, so much so I have the choice to stay at a friend’s home as opposed to a hotel when I visit my neighbours. Similarly I entertain at least 8 of my EC mates or their family every year for a week at a time.

Prime Minister Thompson’s announcement of am amnesty for all Undocumented CARICOM Nationals (I do not subscribe to the view that a human should ever be referred to as ILLEGAL) has not gone down well in any of the Caribbean countries I have visited since May 15th. Bajans have come in for a tongue lashing from all walks of the EC’s society – e.g. the taxi driver, the home helper, the call in programs, the politicians, the business people and others. I have found myself on the receiving end more often than not and I am beginning to sense that a dislike for Bajans like me and you is rapidly brewing and it genuinely concerns me.

In a nutshell I am hearing from OUTSIDE OF BARBADOS that the backlash is rooted in the following –

1. The amnesty sets unrealistic requirements. A radio call in host in St. Lucia noted that PM Thomson’s conditions (I suspect with time spent in Barbados) would disqualify more than 90% of Undocumented Immigrants here in Barbados. Therefore it is being suggested that PM Thompson’s amnesty was never intended to facilitate the Undocumented Immigrant to regularize his/ her stay in Barbados, rather it is believed by the wider Caribbean that it is more so intended to justify the mass deportation of Undocumented CARICOM Nationals come January 1, 2010.

2.    Barbados and Bajans encouraged many of these same very Undocumented Immigrants to come to Barbados to work over the last 16 years. As a result some of Guyana’s and St, Vincent’s most talented artisans left their home for greener pastures in our then booming construction sector; additionally others were readily employed by our middle and upper classes as maids and gardeners. How often you were at a cocktail party in the late 90s and the work ethic or roti making skills of the Guyanese maid was being praised? Others came to our shores as plantation workers while others were recruited as sex workers. However, now that the party is over these Undocumented guest of ours are expected to drop everything – including chattel and family and jump on the next plane home.

3.    The politicians, especially the PMs of St. Vincent and Guyana, are stirring up the flames of anti-Bajan sentiment in their respective countries. I have little doubt that such a move is meant to distract from their impoverished economies, respectively.

4.    A middle class Grenadian business man reminded me in no uncertain terms that Barbados depends on her CARICOM neighbours for almost 60% of our exports. And how we are ungrateful “sycophants”. And if we don’t watch it our exports were going to suffer. He and others were of the opinion that we should go easy on our CARICOM brothers/ sisters because our manufacturing sector could not survive without CARICOM.

5.    A St. Lucian taxi driver reminded me that CO Williams Construction, SAGICOR and Almond Resorts St. Lucia were Barbadian companies who were making lots of money in St. Lucia while there were no St. Lucian companies of note that were allowed to exist in Barbados. Again he thought that PM Thompson was undermining and taking for granted the good bilateral relationship that existed between St. Lucia and Barbados for years by announcing “such a callous immigration policy”.

6.    The Caribbean media have reported the Gestapo like raids on undocumented immigrants quoting individuals who stated that they were awoken in the middle of the night by Sergeant PC Brooms and a very caustic immigration officer not caring what was to happen to their belongings once they were escorted off the premises.

7.    Many are accusing us as being short sighted pointing out that in the early half of the 20th century Bajans travelled without restrictions throughout the Caribbean in search of gainful employment.

PLEASE DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER / OBSERVER.

If we don’t bring a more realistic and human face to dealing with our Undocumented CARICOM neighbours Barbados could face a serious irreversible and potentially economically crippling backlash.

I would be first to admit that I have a vested interest in Barbados being perceived as being a kinder and gentler nation. My livelihood in intricately connected to doing business with our Eastern Caribbean neighbours, however, I must point out that if I fail to meet my targets over 30 Bajans could be on the bread line adding to the drain on our social security services. While my failure will in turn affect over 100 persons (including immediate family members), however, with my limited knowledge I can see our recently announced immigration policy resulting in:

1.    Possibly 1000s of Bajan manufacturing jobs being threatened
2.    A reduced number of CARICOM nationals choosing Barbados as their holiday/ shopping destination
3.    Reduced opportunity for our professionals – e.g. accountants, quantity surveyors, engineers, lawyers, pilots – getting jobs in the Eastern Caribbean
4.    Reduced business opportunities for our companies and businesses in the Eastern Caribbean. Right now the Williams group of companies have recently completed a water desalination plant in St. Kitts.
5.    Reduced number of CARICOM nationals travelling to Barbados for Crop Over/ Jazz Festival/ Cricket/ etc.
6.    Reduced number of EC Governments paying for their nationals to come to Barbados for medical test and care
7.    Reduced number of EC countries coming to our rescue in the face of a national disaster/ crisis – e.g. hurricane, tsunami, social disturbance (Prison riots)
8.    Our fishermen may be increasingly harassed if they ventured into the territorial waters of our increasingly unfriendly CARICOM neighbours.
9.    We may no longer be a hub for air transport into the EC.
10.    Our nominees for UN/ OAS/ FAO/ PAHO/ CCJ and other appointments may no longer be guaranteed the support of the EC
11.    UWI Cave Hill may see less and less EC nationals entering its doors.
12.    Our regional companies – Goddards and Cave Shepherds – may find it increasingly difficult to do business in the EC

I was once told for every action one should always be prepared for an equal and opposite reaction. I do think that most Bajans supporting PM Thompson’s immigration policy are unaware of the possible consequences of the reactions by our EC neighbours who rightly or wrongly feel hurt that a CARICOM brother/ sister in Barbados would devise a policy that on the surface, at least, seems inhumane and unjust.

A Very Concerned Bajan

Guyana Deportees Report Thefts Of Money, Property In Wake Of Barbados Immigration & Police Raids

“When I got to my room,  the door was off, all my clothes thrown on the floor, my suitcase ravaged and all my documents and money gone. I could not believe it. I had recently bought  a Dreambox, a dvd player,  and I had $1 300 Bajan saved and it’s all gone.”

… An illegal immigrant tells of thefts during Immigration Raids in The Nation article Lucky Escape

Free-For-All As Landlords And Others Profit From Deportations

Two days ago Barbados Free Press asked what our Barbados Immigration and Police were doing to secure and protect the valuables and personal property of persons arrested in the recent immigration raids. (See BFP’s Barbados Continues Immigration Raids, Deportations Of Guyanese…)

Now we know: Barbados Government officials are in fact doing nothing to protect or secure deportees’ valuables. It is a free-for-all with neighbours, landlords and passersby grabbing the “abandoned” property and money of arrested persons. Our authorities are doing nothing except dragging persons away from their rooms and homes.

What a National Shame for Barbados

So far there are no reports of government officials ending up with deportees’ property, but where there is no system used to properly seize, protect and catalogue the property of arrested persons – it is only a matter of time until the abuses start if they haven’t already.