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published: Sunday | February 11, 2007 <DIV class=KonaBody OP1q9="true">
Andrew Smith, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Photography</SPAN> Editor
An estimated 11,000 Jamaicans live and work in the Cayman Islands, making up about 22 per cent of the country's population.
For Jamaicans at home, the perception is that those who make the trip to the British colony with a booming economy are doing well. But for those who live there, especially those who work in ordinary jobs, such as store <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">clerks</SPAN> and domestic help, life is not likely to be a bed of roses, and sometimes it is living hell.
They often suffer discrimination and abuse, may receive lower-than-contracted wages; and, if they complain, sometimes face the threat of being thrown out of the country.
Authorities support employers
"It doesn't matter what's in writing," says Gordon Barlow, an Australian-born newspaper columnist and human rights <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">activist</SPAN> in an interview a fortnight ago. "All authorities are on the side of the employers and Caymanians."
Adds Captain Robert Hamaty, Kingston's honorary consul in the Cayman Islands: "There are also those prospective employers who give the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Immigration</SPAN> Department one figure regarding the salary/wage of a prospective employee. However, upon landing, the individual receives a significantly different package."
If people like Barlow and Hamaty were to be accused of exaggeration, their assessment of the treatment
Andrew Smith, <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Photography</SPAN> Editor
An estimated 11,000 Jamaicans live and work in the Cayman Islands, making up about 22 per cent of the country's population.
For Jamaicans at home, the perception is that those who make the trip to the British colony with a booming economy are doing well. But for those who live there, especially those who work in ordinary jobs, such as store <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">clerks</SPAN> and domestic help, life is not likely to be a bed of roses, and sometimes it is living hell.
They often suffer discrimination and abuse, may receive lower-than-contracted wages; and, if they complain, sometimes face the threat of being thrown out of the country.
Authorities support employers
"It doesn't matter what's in writing," says Gordon Barlow, an Australian-born newspaper columnist and human rights <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">activist</SPAN> in an interview a fortnight ago. "All authorities are on the side of the employers and Caymanians."
Adds Captain Robert Hamaty, Kingston's honorary consul in the Cayman Islands: "There are also those prospective employers who give the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: orange! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">Immigration</SPAN> Department one figure regarding the salary/wage of a prospective employee. However, upon landing, the individual receives a significantly different package."
If people like Barlow and Hamaty were to be accused of exaggeration, their assessment of the treatment
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