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Has Barbados gone mad?
FOLLOWING on Observer reports of the traumatic and embarrassing body cavity search of Jamaican Shanique Myrie on her arrival in Barbados, and last Thursday's Observer headline, 'Barbadians tighten the screw', 'More Jamaicans beaten, locked up, kicked out', Trevor Campbell of the Caribbean Online Forum asked a forum member, a Barbadian, the question, 'What the hell is happening in Barbados?'
The forum member wrote, 'I don't know what's happening! But I can only assume that the immigration agenda of the ruling party has taken root and certain individuals in law enforcement feel that it provides a licence to inflict punishment without a trial.
'I think that the matter has got to the stage where it should be taken up at the Caricom level. At that level Barbados should be asked to explain what is going on and the region should collectively look for solutions.
'We have heard about countries such as the BVI and St Maarten demanding visas of Jamaicans. It now seems that this is the direction in which B'dos is going. I say this because if you're going to treat every Jamaican with suspicion then you should put something in place to screen them before they arrive in the country rather than subjecting people to this kind of treatment on arrival. But as a fellow Caricom nation that would be absurd.
'Barbados promotes itself as an entertainment and sports tourism mecca. This attracts a certain kind of tourist, and/or tourism investor. Among them will be people who smoke marijuana and take cocaine in whatever form. So the question is, how do you deal with it? I don't know the answer. But it is obvious that the immigration policy has escalated under the present government which started its tenure of office with a mass deportation of Guyanese, some of whom had indeed broken the immigration laws. However, the action seemed to run totally contrary to the free-movement concept in Caricom.
'As a Barbadian, I must say that I have never encountered any problem on entry into any Caricom country. I have visited Jamaica many times without any difficulty, same in T&T and Guyana, Suriname and the Bahamas. I won't include the countries of the OECS because I hold a Laissez Passer for those countries. So I am saddened that the relationship has come to this.
'I lived in Jamaica for two years and ventured [into] places, where some Jamaicans claimed they feared to go, without any hostility being shown even after having declared my nationality. So it should count for something that we (Bajans) don't encounter bad treatment in other countries in the region.
'We can't get away from it. This behaviour is encouraged by economic difficulties now being faced in Barbados. Workers fear losing employment to less expensive labour from other Caricom countries. Apparently this is so even in the sex industry. Crime is escalating, as the gang culture taken straight from the so-called inner-city ghettos in the USA increases its influence. In addition it appears that some Barbadian officials seem to think that they have to exercise some kind of supervisory jurisdiction over the immigration policies of other Caricom countries. So even when people are passing through en route to another island they may be harassed and questioned about their purpose for visiting that island. Since Barbados is an Eastern Caribbean air traffic hub, this could become a source of serious annoyance in the OECS countries.
'Some of these arrangements were put in place during World Cup cricket to monitor the movement of suspected criminals in the region. On first landing, the visitor was to be given a wrist band to indicate that he/she had already passed through Caricom immigration in another island. Passenger lists were also shared, etc. Perhaps this kind of info is still circulating and being used in the ordinary visitor context when there is no special event attracting visitors. That's all I can say for now. I await the backlash!'
There is, of course, another side to the story of us that many are afraid to accept or write about.
Many of us are loud, uncouth, tend to fight at the drop of a hat and not take too kindly to authority. This is so especially at dances.
One young Jamaican living in Brooklyn told me recently that he does not go to Jamaican dances in Brooklyn because it is almost a certainty that some time after midnight a knife fight will break out or a gun will be drawn.
While we have no sure way of corroborating Miss Myrie's account of what took place before she was sent back home, we have to ask ourselves the question. Which woman would want to bare such an embarrassing story to the press if it wasn't true?
That said, although it could be that a new entry policy is about to emerge in Barbados, the fact that that small country could be openly 'dissing' us probably tells us a lot about how we are perceived in general by many in the region, as it does about Barbados.
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1IUo39vK3
FOLLOWING on Observer reports of the traumatic and embarrassing body cavity search of Jamaican Shanique Myrie on her arrival in Barbados, and last Thursday's Observer headline, 'Barbadians tighten the screw', 'More Jamaicans beaten, locked up, kicked out', Trevor Campbell of the Caribbean Online Forum asked a forum member, a Barbadian, the question, 'What the hell is happening in Barbados?'
The forum member wrote, 'I don't know what's happening! But I can only assume that the immigration agenda of the ruling party has taken root and certain individuals in law enforcement feel that it provides a licence to inflict punishment without a trial.
'I think that the matter has got to the stage where it should be taken up at the Caricom level. At that level Barbados should be asked to explain what is going on and the region should collectively look for solutions.
'We have heard about countries such as the BVI and St Maarten demanding visas of Jamaicans. It now seems that this is the direction in which B'dos is going. I say this because if you're going to treat every Jamaican with suspicion then you should put something in place to screen them before they arrive in the country rather than subjecting people to this kind of treatment on arrival. But as a fellow Caricom nation that would be absurd.
'Barbados promotes itself as an entertainment and sports tourism mecca. This attracts a certain kind of tourist, and/or tourism investor. Among them will be people who smoke marijuana and take cocaine in whatever form. So the question is, how do you deal with it? I don't know the answer. But it is obvious that the immigration policy has escalated under the present government which started its tenure of office with a mass deportation of Guyanese, some of whom had indeed broken the immigration laws. However, the action seemed to run totally contrary to the free-movement concept in Caricom.
'As a Barbadian, I must say that I have never encountered any problem on entry into any Caricom country. I have visited Jamaica many times without any difficulty, same in T&T and Guyana, Suriname and the Bahamas. I won't include the countries of the OECS because I hold a Laissez Passer for those countries. So I am saddened that the relationship has come to this.
'I lived in Jamaica for two years and ventured [into] places, where some Jamaicans claimed they feared to go, without any hostility being shown even after having declared my nationality. So it should count for something that we (Bajans) don't encounter bad treatment in other countries in the region.
'We can't get away from it. This behaviour is encouraged by economic difficulties now being faced in Barbados. Workers fear losing employment to less expensive labour from other Caricom countries. Apparently this is so even in the sex industry. Crime is escalating, as the gang culture taken straight from the so-called inner-city ghettos in the USA increases its influence. In addition it appears that some Barbadian officials seem to think that they have to exercise some kind of supervisory jurisdiction over the immigration policies of other Caricom countries. So even when people are passing through en route to another island they may be harassed and questioned about their purpose for visiting that island. Since Barbados is an Eastern Caribbean air traffic hub, this could become a source of serious annoyance in the OECS countries.
'Some of these arrangements were put in place during World Cup cricket to monitor the movement of suspected criminals in the region. On first landing, the visitor was to be given a wrist band to indicate that he/she had already passed through Caricom immigration in another island. Passenger lists were also shared, etc. Perhaps this kind of info is still circulating and being used in the ordinary visitor context when there is no special event attracting visitors. That's all I can say for now. I await the backlash!'
There is, of course, another side to the story of us that many are afraid to accept or write about.
Many of us are loud, uncouth, tend to fight at the drop of a hat and not take too kindly to authority. This is so especially at dances.
One young Jamaican living in Brooklyn told me recently that he does not go to Jamaican dances in Brooklyn because it is almost a certainty that some time after midnight a knife fight will break out or a gun will be drawn.
While we have no sure way of corroborating Miss Myrie's account of what took place before she was sent back home, we have to ask ourselves the question. Which woman would want to bare such an embarrassing story to the press if it wasn't true?
That said, although it could be that a new entry policy is about to emerge in Barbados, the fact that that small country could be openly 'dissing' us probably tells us a lot about how we are perceived in general by many in the region, as it does about Barbados.
observemark@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1IUo39vK3
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