Tweet
Lee Malvo's psychologist calls for better use of deportees' skills
ERICA VIRTUE, Observer Writer
Thursday, June 21, 2007
WASHINGTON DC, USA - Carmeta Albarus-Lindo, forensic psychologist to Jamaican teen mass murderer Lee Boyd Malvo, wants receiving countries including Jamaica to utilise the intellect of deportees from North America and Europe, many of whom are returning as qualified professionals.
Albarus-Lindo, who is attending the Conference of the Caribbean currently underway in Washington, DC, said in some instances deportees are returning with graduate degrees, and they want to assist positively in the development of the receiving countries.
"There are many who when they went to prison could not read or write, but after 20 or 25 years, they have acquired Bachelor's and Master's degrees. There are instances where some have two Masters. They want to make a contribution to the development of the societies to which they are being sent," she told the Observer.
Presently, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana receive the bulk of deportees from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Only last month, the United Kingdom deported British-Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal to Jamaica after spending four years in prison for allegedly inciting racial hatred against non-Muslims.
On Tuesday, Albarus-Lindo said that not all deportees are interested in returning to a life of crime, and many want to make a contribution. She made specific reference to one with two Master's degrees who will be sent to Jamaica, and who wishes to make a contribution through the Ministry of Education.
She called on deporting countries to assist receiving countries in resettlement assistance, as "many of them learnt their criminal trade overseas".
Albarus-Lindo, who works closely with incarcerated Caribbean and African nationals in the United States penal system, said the experiences led her to form the Family Unification Resettlement Initiative (FURY), which assists impending and landed deportees.
A specialist in death penalty mitigation cases, she said her work takes her throughout the entire United States. She notes that there were many concerns among the impending deportee population.
She suggests that one of the main drawbacks to successful resettlement and positive contribution is the "stigmatisation and marginalisation of deportees". This, she said, is an impediment to the reorientation process and challenged the societies to raise the expectation of deportees, so many will begin to fit into the requirements of those societies.
ERICA VIRTUE, Observer Writer
Thursday, June 21, 2007
WASHINGTON DC, USA - Carmeta Albarus-Lindo, forensic psychologist to Jamaican teen mass murderer Lee Boyd Malvo, wants receiving countries including Jamaica to utilise the intellect of deportees from North America and Europe, many of whom are returning as qualified professionals.
Albarus-Lindo, who is attending the Conference of the Caribbean currently underway in Washington, DC, said in some instances deportees are returning with graduate degrees, and they want to assist positively in the development of the receiving countries.
"There are many who when they went to prison could not read or write, but after 20 or 25 years, they have acquired Bachelor's and Master's degrees. There are instances where some have two Masters. They want to make a contribution to the development of the societies to which they are being sent," she told the Observer.
Presently, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana receive the bulk of deportees from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Only last month, the United Kingdom deported British-Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal to Jamaica after spending four years in prison for allegedly inciting racial hatred against non-Muslims.
On Tuesday, Albarus-Lindo said that not all deportees are interested in returning to a life of crime, and many want to make a contribution. She made specific reference to one with two Master's degrees who will be sent to Jamaica, and who wishes to make a contribution through the Ministry of Education.
She called on deporting countries to assist receiving countries in resettlement assistance, as "many of them learnt their criminal trade overseas".
Albarus-Lindo, who works closely with incarcerated Caribbean and African nationals in the United States penal system, said the experiences led her to form the Family Unification Resettlement Initiative (FURY), which assists impending and landed deportees.
A specialist in death penalty mitigation cases, she said her work takes her throughout the entire United States. She notes that there were many concerns among the impending deportee population.
She suggests that one of the main drawbacks to successful resettlement and positive contribution is the "stigmatisation and marginalisation of deportees". This, she said, is an impediment to the reorientation process and challenged the societies to raise the expectation of deportees, so many will begin to fit into the requirements of those societies.
Comment