Don1, is this any better than the Bulb issue?

[Willi]

Time to declare diplomatic war on Bimshire:

Is this any betterthan the PNP's bulb statement yesterday? Is not yesterday the other islands treating us like this, so its hypocritical for the PNP to be "demanding" action from the GOJ, as they were the GOJ for much of the last 3 decades when those people treated us like crap...ask any law student who lived at Cave Hill! This is a time when we should have a coordinated response from the party about an issue that is detrimental to the Jamaican community.

News
OUTRAGE! - Finger-rape of J'can woman in Barbados sparks fury
Groups blast cavity search of J’can woman in B’dos

Friday, March 25, 2011

THE horrific account of a callous vaginal search of a Jamaican woman by a Barbadian official at the Grantley Adams International Airport has unleashed a torrent of public condemnation from the Jamaican Government, political, business and women's groups.

National Security Minister Dwight Nelson yesterday expressed outrage at the reported incident and said he was awaiting word from Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Dr Ken Baugh about discussions he (Baugh) proposes to have with the responsible minister in Barbados.
MYRIE... was also verbally abused and threatened with imprisonment
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"The national security minister is also expressing concern about the treatment of Jamaican women by the immigration authorities in Trinidad and Tobago and again said he is looking forward to discussions which Dr Baugh will hold with the responsible minister in the twin island republic," a news release from Nelson's office said.
Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade, Anthony Hylton, in a release issued yesterday evening described the treatment of Shanique Myrie as she attempted to enter Barbados earlier this month as "a serious breach of the spirit, intent and letter of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and could amount to criminal conduct on the part of these officials".
The People's National Party (PNP) said it would be conducting its own investigation into the alleged abusive conduct of the airport staff and joined the clamour of voices urging the Government to quickly investigate the allegations and, if warranted, have the perpetrators dealt with to the fullest extent of Barbadian law.
The PNP also said that the eastern Caribbean state must be called upon by Caricom to explain the apparent trend of poor treatment of Jamaicans.
"The PNP is cognisant of the strong outrage among our nationals, particularly females, to this seeming abuse of authority and to the fact that it appears to be a continuing course of action among Barbadian officials towards Jamaican nationals," the party said.
Myrie had complained bitterly to the Observer on Wednesday that when she attempted to enter Barbados on March 14, 2011 to visit a friend, she was subjected to two demeaning cavity searches by a female immigration officer who continuously spewed venom about Jamaicans. It was her first trip out of the island.
Her story was corroborated by former Jamaican honorary consul to Barbados, Marlon Gordon, who said that even though some Jamaicans do enter Barbados and get involved in nefarious activities, that was no excuse for wholesale discrimination against Jamaican nationals.
Myrie told the Observer that in addition to the vaginal search to which she was subjected by a woman, she was also verbally abused and threatened with imprisonment.
"I asked her who she was and she said 'I am your worst nightmare'. She then said 'All you (expletive) Jamaicans come here to do is either steal people's man or bring drugs here," Myrie told the Observer.
She was eventually locked in a small room at the airport overnight and sent back home the following day, even though no drugs were found on her.
Yesterday, the PNP Women's Movement described Myrie's experience as "frightening, to say the least".
The movement condemned the cavity searches of females as abhorrent, adding that it was even more so, if, as has been reported, "the perpetrator uttered expletives and derogatory remarks about Jamaican women" during the search.
"In the modern era, available technology provides other options to physical and intrusive cavity searches. Other methodologies can therefore be used to detect whether or not a suspect has concealed contraband on or in their person," Jennifer Edwards, president of the PNP Women's Movement, said in a press release.
The women's movement is also demanding decisive and immediate action from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
"We anticipate that the minister and other relevant government officials will not waste any more time in issuing a response, especially in light of the confirmation by a Ministry official that a number of complaints are regularly received from Jamaican women," read the release.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) National Organisation of Women (JLP NOW) also strongly objected to what it called a "disgusting incident" and urged a thorough investigation.
Noting her personal horror at the story, general secretary of JLP NOW, Sally Porteous, said the fact that "Miss Myrie was then kept in a cell-like room for the night and sent back to Jamaica when nothing illegal was found on her person, or in her luggage, simply adds insult to injury".
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association called for the Jamaican Government to swiftly address the affront to the Myrie, noting that similar barriers prevent free trade across regional borders.
"It is time that the Government stands up for its people and ensures that Jamaican nationals are able to travel freely without profiling, discrimination and abuse within Caricom as well as to be able to trade without coming up against perceived or blatant barriers," said the association's president Omar Azan in a release.
Citing loopholes in the treaty arrangements between Caricom nations that inhibit free travel and trade, Azan also maintained that the provisions of the Treaty of Chaguaramas relating to the movement of goods and people are not being applied evenly by all member states.
"It is with regret that this situation has been left unchecked and has festered over the years, resulting in the abuse of Jamaican nationals," said Azan.
The JMA called for a standardised policy across all Caricom states regarding body searches of regional travellers.

[Willi]

Consul booted:

JAMAICA'S former Honorary Consul to Barbados Marlon Gordon says his staunch advocacy on behalf of Jamaican nationals who are being discriminated against in that eastern Caribbean country cost him his post.
Gordon resigned in a huff as Jamaica's consular representative in that country in January, and the Barbados government had been less than welcoming of him because of what he says is his 'no-nonsense' stance on their wholesale disdain for Jamaicans.
"The Barbados government is upset because I talk up. They have made the post vacant in circumstances which have now exposed the Jamaican public to abuse. It is quite obvious that the government doesn't want anybody to stand up," he told the Observer.
Gordon was responding to queries by this newspaper about the treatment of his countrymen in Barbados after Jamaican Shanique Myrie recounted a horrific experience at the Grantley Adams Airport earlier this month. She told the Observer she was subjected to a humiliating body search, bad-mouthed and locked up before being booted out of the island without explanation.
Gordon took time, however, to admit that some Jamaicans have not been the best ambassadors for their country while they are in Barbados.
"Some Jamaicans don't make it easier. They come to Barbados and get involved in all sorts of activities. The Barbadian government has every right to protect their country, but everybody is suspected. Jamaicans who live here and others who come through are arbitrarily targeted for discrimination," Gordon said.
Under international law, the former consul said, the receiving state cannot be forced to accept an honorary consul, hence the Barbadian government had the right to refuse his continuing in the position.
Nonetheless, he remains critical of the Jamaican government's silence on the issue.
"The Jamaican government has been silent for too long. The Jamaican government has lost its position, as it seems they don't want to disturb relations between Jamaica and Barbados. It seems they have no respect for their people in that regard," he said.
Yesterday, the Barbadian online publication NationNews.com reported that officials in that country had launched a probe into the allegations about Myrie's abuse at the hands of immigration officials.
That publication reported that Senator Harry Husbands, parliamentary secretary in the prime minister's office — who has responsibility for immigration matters — said Myrie was denied entry to Barbados for good reason. However, NationNews.com did not elaborate on what those reasons were.
On Thursday, the Observer broke the story of how Myrie, who had travelled to Barbados for the first time to visit a friend, was humiliated as she tried to enter that country. She claimed she was forced to submit to invasive physical searches and verbal abuse at a Barbados airport immigration checkpoint.
Attempts to contact Jamaica's Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Ken Baugh for further comment on the issue yielded no response as the calls went unanswered.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had received a letter of complaint from Myrie and other Jamaicans and that the matter had been raised at the Caricom (Caribbean Community) level. The ministry's spokesperson promised that the matter would be dealt with on a government-to-government level.

[Don1]

Am not familiar with the Barbados discrimination history against J'cans but can accept it from you..

Don't see anything from this report too objectionable from the tribal reps... but I guess we can always expect hypocrisy from politicians...that's their stock in trade

[Willi]

Hylton was fine, but as usual the parties use their affiliate orgs to do the dirty tribal work so they can appear above the fray. Similar to PACs in the USA.

Surely you read up the play.

Ah nuh just Bimshire gwaan bad, but they are among the worse and they are very hypocritical. Clovis slap dem up bad bad today!

[Gamma]

i am. and i know marlon very well, he is as plain spoken and outspoken as they come and it does not surprise me that they would not want him as consul for just that reason.

[1of1]

it gwaaning long time, we are profiled even by our neighbours