Dear Editor,
Sir Shridath Ramphal, former Common-wealth Secretary General and Professor Compton Bourne, President of the Caribbean Development Bank have joined the many commentators who have criticised the rounding up and deportation by Barbadian Immi-gration officials of undocumented Caricom nationals in early morning raids.
The Barbados Government though entitled to enforce its laws must do so in the spirit of humanity and decency, and Prime Minister Thompson has now strongly stated that his government will not condone the “degradation or denial of human rights…not permit the abuse or violation of rights and privileges of persons resident in our shores, under whatever circumstances.” He revealed statistics from the Immigration Department in relation to Caricom nationals from June 1 at a press conference yesterday.
The Guyana Foreign Ministry has recently set up a desk and is using the media to encourage those affected to officially report their accounts to that office. A number of newspapers carried stories from anonymous Guyanese recounting their experiences. Some are back home yet still are unwilling to reveal their names and one hopes that their stories were properly verified.
It is unimaginable that President Jagdeo may have put the cart before the horse as he has been very public and harsh in his criticism of the ‘offending’ Caricom heads of state. One has to tread carefully, and hope that the other Caricom heads don’t similarly engage in petty politicking and lambaste the Guyana Government for its poor and ineffective governance which has led to increased migration to these other much smaller Caricom states. Interestingly, a large number of Indo-Guyanese are migrating now and may include a significant percentage of undocumented Guyanese in Barbados. The propagandists must be hard at work to come up with a spin on this as Forbes Burnham died more than two decades ago.
Maybe if Guyanese within these shores are treated with respect and are afforded equal opportunities, regardless of race or political persuasion, then the tide of migration may be stemmed. Charity begins at home, President Jagdeo.
Yours faithfully,
Dawn A. Holder
Dawn, well said and exactly the point i have been make! Thanks for stating it so clearly
….all ahwe wah duz come haysuh an leff we thoghts on issues that affect we bros an sistahz in GUYANA ,, u iz de only one who is so intellectually sufficient to pronounce dat DAWN said exactly ur thoughts ,, and with all of ur intellect ,, u could not “state it so clearly” ! awesome…..
If anything, Pres. Jagdeo has been reserved on this issue. For Jagdeo, it’s damn if he do and damn if he don’t. Ms. Holder’s comments about Indo-Guyanese comes across as a racist comment. Why purpose does it serve to single out the migration of Indo Guyanese in the context of this matter other that to induce us to go after each other. And why bring up the very dead dictator, Burnham? You still miss him Ms. holder?
On one hand Ms Holder mentioned that a large number of migrants are Indo Guyanese and then in the next paragraph she suggests that people are leaving begause of unequal treatment based on race. Is that not a contradiction Ms. Holder? The fact that Indo Guyanese are leaving in large numbers would suggest that migration has less to do with race or unequal treatment and more to do with the economic times.
We are all Guyanese Ms. Holder. You have every right to your opinion about Jagdeo or anyone else or political party for that matter, however don’t make make it about race.
Bunk. There is immigration issues worse than Guyana’s all over the world.
A very contradictory and racial paragraph in your letter Dawn Holder,it was because of Burnham that Guyanese of all races started to migrate in large numbers and the trend has continued until this day.In Burnham’s time Guyanese were migrating because of political and economic reasons,today they are migrating for economic reasons just like the people of all third world countries.If you think that there is not equal opportunities Guyanese in Guyana just take a look at the public service sector and the joint services(GPF,ARMY)before you write about unequality based on race and politics.
Guyanese were emigrating during the Burnham illegal rule era because of persecution and loss of rights.