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Story Created: Nov 24, 2013 at 10:40 PM ECT
Before the situation escalates any further, we urge the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to move expeditiously towards defusing the emerging tensions over immigration decisions.
The last thing the region needs is for these two lead countries of Caricom to engage in an unproductive tit-for-tat over the movement of nationals into each other’s country.
It is quite possible that a certain resistance has developed among immigration officials following the judgment delivered by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the Shanique Myrie case which has re-affirmed the legal right of Caricom nationals to an automatic stay of six months except in cases of “undesirable persons”. The judgment took pains to define an “undesirable person” and to outline the process to be followed by immigration authorities in invoking this ground for denial of entry.
The CCJ judgment was a landmark in giving life to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by which the governments of the region agreed to implement the free movement of their people throughout Caricom.
Not surprisingly, the judgment has provoked a certain amount of anxiety, even xenophobia, in certain quarters, especially among those who have enjoyed the liberties of arbitrary power in deciding who is allowed to enter a country or not. We suggest, however, that the wiser response to the CCJ judgment would be for Caricom governments to hasten to bring their immigration policies and personnel in line with the judgment in order to avoid litigation and general ill-will.
As chairman of Caricom, we would have thought that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar would have taken the lead in ensuring that Trinidad and Tobago, above all, would be swift in sensitising and, where necessary, retraining Immigration officials to ensure that they comply with the ruling. Instead, we have been treated to untenable explanations from the Minister of National Security that take no account, whatsoever, of the ruling.
In the interest of avoiding unnecessary bad blood between our countries, we urge officials in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to bring themselves and their immigration personnel up to speed on the implications of the CCJ judgment for decision-making. The region has far too much invested in the free movement of its people for it to be derailed by territorial insularity and individual insecurity. The time has come for us to surrender old fears and to take a chance on our people.
Perhaps this is too much to ask of the Persad-Bissessar administration that is still unable to implement even the limited accession to the CCJ that it promised. However, even if it lacks confidence in the idea of regional unity, the Government should consider the impact of the current row on the many nationals who move in and out of Jamaica for reasons of education, business, family and pleasure. Long before we were sovereign countries with elected governments, our people were moving in and out of each other’s countries. Whatever anxieties we have, let us set them aside and use the CCJ judgment as an intelligent and reasonable guide towards building on our aspirations towards regional unity.
Before the situation escalates any further, we urge the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to move expeditiously towards defusing the emerging tensions over immigration decisions.
The last thing the region needs is for these two lead countries of Caricom to engage in an unproductive tit-for-tat over the movement of nationals into each other’s country.
It is quite possible that a certain resistance has developed among immigration officials following the judgment delivered by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the Shanique Myrie case which has re-affirmed the legal right of Caricom nationals to an automatic stay of six months except in cases of “undesirable persons”. The judgment took pains to define an “undesirable person” and to outline the process to be followed by immigration authorities in invoking this ground for denial of entry.
The CCJ judgment was a landmark in giving life to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by which the governments of the region agreed to implement the free movement of their people throughout Caricom.
Not surprisingly, the judgment has provoked a certain amount of anxiety, even xenophobia, in certain quarters, especially among those who have enjoyed the liberties of arbitrary power in deciding who is allowed to enter a country or not. We suggest, however, that the wiser response to the CCJ judgment would be for Caricom governments to hasten to bring their immigration policies and personnel in line with the judgment in order to avoid litigation and general ill-will.
As chairman of Caricom, we would have thought that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar would have taken the lead in ensuring that Trinidad and Tobago, above all, would be swift in sensitising and, where necessary, retraining Immigration officials to ensure that they comply with the ruling. Instead, we have been treated to untenable explanations from the Minister of National Security that take no account, whatsoever, of the ruling.
In the interest of avoiding unnecessary bad blood between our countries, we urge officials in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to bring themselves and their immigration personnel up to speed on the implications of the CCJ judgment for decision-making. The region has far too much invested in the free movement of its people for it to be derailed by territorial insularity and individual insecurity. The time has come for us to surrender old fears and to take a chance on our people.
Perhaps this is too much to ask of the Persad-Bissessar administration that is still unable to implement even the limited accession to the CCJ that it promised. However, even if it lacks confidence in the idea of regional unity, the Government should consider the impact of the current row on the many nationals who move in and out of Jamaica for reasons of education, business, family and pleasure. Long before we were sovereign countries with elected governments, our people were moving in and out of each other’s countries. Whatever anxieties we have, let us set them aside and use the CCJ judgment as an intelligent and reasonable guide towards building on our aspirations towards regional unity.
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