The Guyanese man who was asleep when Barbadian immigration authorities knocked on his door on Friday last is back in Guyana and says he has “no regrets”, and he is already working on a business investment.
He was deported along with eight other Guyanese on Sunday morning, some 48 hours after they were picked up by the authorities- many believed to have been rounded up from an area populated with locals within the Christ Church parish. Before his departure from the island, he recalled that another batch of Guyanese was sent home on an earlier flight, among them a woman who was six months pregnant.
“Guyanese are being taken from their homes and deported…some of us getting a knock on the door like me and other times they just showing up, marching in people’s home and taking you if you have no papers to show”, the man told Stabroek News yesterday.
“When I went outside to join the bus to go to the airport it was so full I had to travel in the immigration vehicle…they had to raid several homes that morning”, he added.
He said that the reality of what Guyanese are enduring on the island, particularly those who are undocumented, is a far cry from the comments of Barbadian officials. He disputed the notion that homes of Guyanese are not being raided saying “it happened to me”.
Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson recently denied knowledge of raids on the homes of Guyanese living on the island, as disclosed by President Bharrat Jagdeo last week. The President said he got the assurance from Thompson when Caricom Heads met last month in Trinidad.
Further, he explained that he raised concerns about the allegations that the homes of Guyanese were being raided as well as some of them being taken off buses and deported. “He said he didn’t know of any such cases and that that is not the intention of his government,” Jagdeo was quoted as saying on Thursday last.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his family, the man said bluntly that he was deported because he had no connections to keep him there. He was on the island for four years working in the areas of carpentry and mason, but had been undocumented for years.
The connection, he explained, was having a person on the inside who is willing to “arrange your papers”. He admitted trying to make that certain connection, but always “coming up short”.
The process to be documented became so frustrating that it simply became a matter of when they would pick him up and have him deported, and that day was Friday last.
He recalled that it was shortly after 6 am on Friday morning when immigration authorities knocked on his door. He was asleep at the time and another undocumented occupant of the home, a Jamaican, answered the door. The authorities, numbering around ten and dressed in casual clothing, entered the home and demanded to see their papers.
He was awakened and forced to produce documents which he was not in possession of, and neither was the Jamaican. He said that they looked at his passport and immediately told him that he was going home. He was given a few minutes to pack some things and was later hustled out of the home. The Jamaican was also taken away.
In a room with five others
Barbadian authorities questioned him for hours after he was taken to the airport and housed in a room. He said the line of questioning focused on how long he had been in the country and why he overstayed. He remembered saying very little to the authorities except that he was “working there”.
He was later held in a room with five other Guyanese where they remained until available seats turned up on a flight back home. He recalled that many Guyanese who were deported had similar stories to his- which was that the authorities went to their homes unexpectedly and rounded them up.
“I know for sure that they are not knocking on every door in every area looking for Guyanese…they are doing groundwork and are also getting tip off, they know which homes to raid”, he said.
The man told this newspaper that his life in Barbados centred on “work, work and work”. He said there was hardly time to hang out because the work was demanding at times and he was forced to get as much rest as he was allowed.
He described his years on the island as productive saying that he worked hard and was of service to the Barbados nation. In return for his service, he earned a good income and was able to live decently and support his family back home. He recalled that the pay over there was good and enough to allow him to realize certain short term goals. If there is anything he is going to miss about Barbados, it would be the salary.
He recalled that the authorities over there were accommodating after they were picked up and noted that they were treated “fairly okay”. He was deported back home on a flight early Sunday morning and was on local soil around 8 am. However, the authorities here kept him and the others in custody until after 9 pm the night as part of the routine processing.
Business plan
The man said that he has no intention of sitting around and waiting for any help as he resettles back home though he is not averse to the idea of government assisting persons deported. He has spent the past few days contemplating his future and has decided on a business investment.
“I am looking right now at possibly getting into the taxi business…buying a car and driving to make a living”, he said.
He is of the opinion that life goes on and that he can only survive if he makes a wise decision on how to move forward. For now, the taxi business seems like a good idea.
He was adamant that he has no regrets over how things have turned out for him. He is grateful for having spent the years in Barbados working and earning a decent income, and is now ready to make things work for him back home.
