Guyanese who were deported from Barbados after being subjected to early morning raids will be able to recount their experience to local authorities as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is setting up a mechanism to facilitate this.
Minister Carolyn Rodrigues–Birkett made the disclosure during a brief interview with this newspaper yesterday as she emphasized that this will enable her ministry to approach its counterparts in Barbados with specific cases since the raids have been denied at the highest levels of that country’s government.
Since the announcement of the new immigration policy by the David Thompson administration several Guyanese have lamented the raids against them.
Two of them who have since been deported have testified to the same treatment and were sent home leaving many of their belongings behind.
Maxine McClean
Rodrigues said on a recent visit to the island, she met with her Barbadian counterpart, Senator Maxine McClean and related her concerns with regards to how the policy was being implemented and the experiences which many Guyanese were encountering.
“I raised the issue of the homes of Guyanese being raided in early morning hours and that some were being taken off buses and just taken like that and sent home. They are not even given enough time to organize themselves for the return home,” she said.
According to her, McClean gave a similar explanation to the one offer-ed by Prime Minister Thompson, assuring that this was not the intention of the Barbados government. She has since committed to keeping in touch with her colleague in charge of immigration to discuss the matter and then give some sort of feedback.
Rodrigues said McClean also outlined to her some of the difficulties which the country’s government had been having in dealing with the issue, thus the reason for the policy. She added that while Barbados had the right to adopt the policy, “our concern is its implementation and what is happening there.”
“If people are illegal and they have to be deported the least they should do is treat them humanely,” the minister declared.
While in Barbados too, Rodrigues said she met with Guyanese who were not all necessarily undocumented. She said many of them attested to the treatment that is being meted out to some of their countrymen, including the early morning raids.
She said that she learnt that sometimes immigration officers would visit places where Guyanese congregate and many have been caught that way and deported. She added that it is felt too that because some Guyanese stand out among Barbadians they are very noticeable and make for easy targeting.
Asked about feedback from the Guyana Consulate in Barbados, the minister said that many persons have been seeking explanations about the policy. However she feels that some persons who know that they do not qualify for the amnesty may not want to share their experience or complain of any difficulties they are facing. However she said that there have been no fresh reports coming in with the same complaints but noted that this did not mean that it is not continuing.
“So we will put a notice in the papers and ask persons to come in and recount their experience. Because Prime Minister Thompson has given President (Bharrat) Jagdeo an assurance and Senator McClean has given me one too and they both have said it’s not the intention of the policy. So we will need specific cases to take to them,” she said.
Minister Rodrigues also pointed out that her understanding is that several persons would have gone to Barbados between 2006 and 2007 during the construction boom on the island because they were hired by various companies and had work permits and were there legally.
“Some of them are not people who went to take away from Barbados but also were held and we must recognize this. While they have a responsibility to get themselves properly documented the minimum right should be applied to them. It’s not an easy situation but we must be balanced,” the minister said.
With regards to the Guyanese response to the amnesty call and getting themselves regularized, Rodrigues said she was not able to garner any specific information in this regard from her counterpart.
However she said the ministry’s re-migration scheme still stands for those persons who have been overseas for four years and over, adding that persons could make use of the scheme.
Lip Service
Meanwhile, another CARICOM leader has joined in the debate, lamenting that while the region pays lip service to the “one Caribbean ideal” the reality is that individual countries may be focused on protecting job opportunities at home for their nationals.
This was an issue raised when the Barbadian policy was first announced. Many saw it as a direct move to keep the jobs for nationals only. Guyanese and other CARICOM nationals are sometimes perceived to be hard workers, resulting in easy access to employment outside their home country.
Stephenson King
Several Caribbean media reports referred to the comments made by St. Lucian Prime Minister Stephenson King who was quoted as saying that “he wants his fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to take urgent action to facilitate the free movement of people throughout the region.”
“We have received complaints, and throughout the region there have always been complaints from St Lucians who travel to other countries, whether it is to Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados or Antigua, there are situations where St Lucians complain of either harassment or being denied entry and are sent back home,” the prime minister was quoted in the Jamaican Gleaner as saying.
St. Vincent Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves had blasted Barbadian authorities for the treatment that some of his nationals had received in Bridgetown, adding that seemingly across CARICOM, some nationalities — including those from his country, Guyana and Jamaica — have been targeted unfairly.
According to his St Lucian counterpart, Gonsalves had a basis for observing that such actions go against the spirit of CARICOM’s regional integration process.
“This is not the kind of environment that we would want to establish within a Caribbean Community. We have to continue to pursue the ideals of one Caribbean and we have got to get over those hurdles and the prime minister of St Vincent does have a basis for making those statements,” King also said.
He contended that Caribbean leaders must act on the concerns about impediments to travel in the region and put measures in place to arrest the problem.
“We have a common purpose which is building a Caribbean nation. And we can’t at this stage begin to place doors at our ports of entry and begin to profile our nationals by saying “you are Guyanese, I am not going to allow you to come in,” said King, whose government recently ended an amnesty offered to immigrants living in St Lucia illegally to regularise their status, the report said.
“Fifty years ago, St Lucians moved to Guyana in droves, so if Guyanese now have the urge to travel, we cannot today begin to feel that our country is ours and ours alone,” he emphasized.
In an interview with this newspaper recently University of Guyana Professor Clive Thomas said he felt that the David Thompson administration’s targeting of CARICOM nationals in its crackdown on illegal immigrants was an act of profiling. He said he felt the action needed to be met with the strongest protest.
Professor Thomas voiced his disapproval particularly over reports that the homes of illegal migrants are being raided, calling it “degrading and discriminatory.” He said he also felt that it violates the spirit of the CSME [CARICOM Single Market and Economy].
“CARICOM has worked to promote an agreement aimed at creating a single economic space and so this is very offensive to CARICOM. We have a responsibility to speak out. We cannot allow the Barbados government to get away with this. We cannot condone such action, it is degrading, dehumanising, indiscriminate and inhumane,” he insisted.
Thomas questioned why it was that only CARICOM nationals were being targeted when nationals from other countries also overstayed their welcome in Barbados. “This is profiling and this is very offensive,” he argued.
The Foreign Ministry today is not as respected a department as during the P.N.C. era. Carolyn Rodrigues is not Foreign Office calibre and is a token appointment to placate women and the First Nations community.
Faria instead of writing letters to Stabroeknews and Kaiteurnews should be retaining the services of a lawyer or lawyers to fight every deportation order that is not criminal in nature. Some time must be given for the disposal of property and closing of bank accounts if the deportee so desires. What about the deportees’ contributions to our equivalent of the N.I.S.? That money does not belong to Barbados.
West Indian cricket players from targeted countries must boycott playing in Barbados. Olympic athletes made that sacrifice after training years for that main event in 1976. Some arrangement can be made to reimburse the cricketers if they think showing solidarity with their tormented and hounded fellow citizens has a price. It’s time to be pro-active instead of reactive. The rest of the Caribbean must speak with one voice and condemn Barbados for employing inhumane tactics to remove the illegals.
BORAPORK, you mean like the “good old days” before 1992 when teh Ministry was a travel agency for the top honchos for their junkets with entourages and the main foreign policy poistion was on “solidarity with Africa” which of course had domestic implications ? I met some of thee Ministry officials running around Barabdos in the 1980s trying to do amage control . Did you ever try to carry on a conversation on world affairs with them ? Get real.
Lawyers ? The lawyers in Barbados who feel they got Guyanese as a niche market have in some cases upped their rates since Prime Minister Thompson’s announcement. Now it is as high as Bds$2500 to file an application (all the is help fil out a form and write a covering letter). These parisitical and predatory elements are accepting money from Guyanese who do not qualify. It is fraud. The Bar Assocation is a social club.
How many non-Caricom nationals have been exposed to these early morning roundups? How many non-Caricom nationals have been stopped and pulled from buses and streets of Barbados? I will make it my duty to inform other bloggers in foreign countries of Barbados’ contempt for human rights. The war is on. Change your brutish tactics and have my support.
You are so right BORAPORK, Rohee was an ambrrassment
to the Foreign Office, now we have to deal with Rodrigues, who is no better to represent the Guyana
internationaly.
TWO THUMBS UP!!!! iam referring to “READY IN BARBADOS” comment..
Borapork
Is it true that the Guyana players on the West Indies team live in the U.S.A?
BORAPORK u and your partner Reddy in Barbados ( Faria)is two big jokers, it`s so sweet for the two of you to sit in foreign countries ( you in canada, he in Barbados) and talk at the rest of the caribbean doing the same thing so what one voice you talking about. look , you and the rest like you need to get real. fix Guyana ,that your people would stop home and make a decent living,and stop telling the world how hopeless it is to live in Guyana , THE TWO (2)things guyanese need to do foremost is (1) STOP BEING RACIAL , (2) GET A GOOD GOVERNMENT
BORAPORK – your opening comment is very prejudicial yet you are calling on the rest of the Caribbean to speak with one voice as if the current foreign affairs minister is not a Caribbean person.
You sound like the Republicians who are trying to get President Obama to have a Bully attitude -when he is using his intellect – to deal with Iran situation.
“West Indian cricket players from targeted countries must boycott playing in Barbados”. What – are you going to pay them for not playing? Cricket has nothing to do with the illegals in Barbados.
If they did – they would be ‘wrong and strong’.
I guess inheritance can be good and bad also.
As usual we have the good consul with his usual dribble.This nondescript talks about the quality of the then diplomats….persons more qualified than him, and better human beings.Rather than to assert himself and provide some aid to the Guyanese over there,he continues to engage in his polluted form of PPP gutter politics.
Never Ready,you can never light a candle next to those who served our country well…. the likes of Rasleigh Jackson, Fred Wills,Dr. Moore, Dr Talbot, Dr. Grant,Noel Sinclair, Dr Insanally, Harry Dyett and that list goes on and on.
Moreover,it was that ’solidarity’ that you so decry that brought about the change in then racist Rhodesia.
This is typical. Instead of offering the deportees opportunities to work and get homes, the Guyanese government will give them opportunities to recount their stories. Recounting their stories to Guyanese authorities won’t do much good. Most Bajans have already lost patience with the illegal Guyanese and are totally desensitized and unsympathetic to their plight. It’s been years, not months, since Bajans started complaining about illegal immigrants in Barbados. Past complaints fell on deaf ears during the Owen Arthur Administration. Now that there is a leader, David Thompson, who is listening and acting, we will back him 100%.
Running to Barbados and work to build that Country and then get kicked back to guyana is not a criteria to aquire housing in Guyana,,,They needed to stay and work in Guyana and build their own country and develop theirselves…
Recounting their stories will certainly help, especially if the Barbados authorities took advantage of them, the rest of the world will react to this one day and all bajans living in different countries will eventually pay for this inhumane attitude…Remember what goes around comes around…
The Prime Minister of St.Vincent should be blasting the marijuana fields in his country and helping to stop the exportation of illegal drugs to Barbados . The government of Barbados does not accept unprofessional behaviour from public officers . Senator Maxine McClean , Minister of Foreign Affairs made this clear on a call-in programme in Barbados on Sunday , June 21 , 2009 . I hope that the motive for the criticism of Barbados in not to weaken the DLP government , led by Prime Minister David Thompson . It is being said in some CARICOM states that the Owen Arthur administration had an open-door policy , so that whomsoever will may come to Barbados and stay as long as they please . The government of Barbados offered an amnesty to CARICOM nationals residing in this country , illegally – and our Prime Minister is being taken to task for being generous . “Where there is no VISION , the people perish” .
I agree with you wholeheartedly. If they won’t leave of their own accord then they deserve to be removed without warning and be made to pay for their own flights. Simple as that. We have seen these people involved in crime (usually drugs); undercutting Bajan workers by working below minimum wage, paying for sham marriages and then bringing in the real family. It is not fair to expect Barbados to accomodate all of the people that the Guyanese government etc have let down.
If you paid as much attention to your own government policies as you are doing to ours – maybe things would be better.
i’ve said it bajan girl, the behaviour of this thompson guy goes against the caricon spirit and the free movement of caricom nationals of which the body was created to facilitate, of course i agree that govts has a right to remove undesirables and persons who has violated a country’s laws, but on the other hand caricom nationals should be given some consideration when it comes to persons going there for the porpose of seeking work in particularly guyanese who are known to be hard working,(bajans feel threatened of our hard working and skillful attitude)and in the process of working there, devolping barbados at the same time, so i disagree when you say that illegals are not contributing to developing your country.
tiger, Bajans don’t feel threatened by Guyanese’s hardworking and skillful attitude. We feel threatened by the loss of physical space and well paying jobs (Guyanese often work for lower wages than Bajans). We feel threatened by the increase in crime and drug trafficking. The biggest drug bust in Barbadian history involved 6 Guyanese. We also feel threatened by the strain on health and educational institutions and social services agencies. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there.
It is OK for Barbadians to travel and seek to better themselves in another country but it is a grave sin to travel to Barbados and work. The policy talks about addressing “illegal” Caricom Nationals,when Guyanese are clearly the target.
David Thompson should let all know his true birthplace even though he is of Barbadian parentage. There are multiple hundreds of Guyanese whose parents are Barbadians or decendants of Barbadian-I cannot understand this paranoia that is sweeping Barbados now that David Thompson is leader.
Natural disasters(hurricanes,earthquakes) respect/fear no man nor nation. It is theorized that island nations in the Caribbean can have vast areas drop beneath the sea/Ocean due to climate change and earthquakes. Land mass like Guyana can still play host once again to those in need.
Here we go again, when will it stop.
Stabroeknews,give it up now.Everyday you are running a story about Guyanese in Barbados.Is Barbados your only source of news these days?Are you on a Barbados watch or something?You made your point.We get it.Guyanese at home and in Barbados know what the next step will be so enough of this broken record.
No, the record is not broken. Any proper media outlet will continue to bring this issue to light. It’s people like you who sweep the issues under the carpet and then try to forget about it. The government of Guyana (if they’re not touring the world at the time) need to do something to help Guyanese.
StabroekNews, a little suggestion, you should try calling the immigration department in Barbados and try to get an interview. Get their side of things.
Jim-Bob maybe the news paper should call your leaders and ask them why they want to put your countries problems on other countries and just calling foul or csme , do you want us to import the murderers that fell the tree and shot the man too , or the one that shot the drink vendor , any more criminals that we can have sir ?Guyana is one of the richest in the caribbean and dont know how to use its resourses , the best assets of any country is its people, keep yours home . Maybe you should see how much guyanese are living here ,with good lives and having their permits renewed with out any problems but the ones that are here illegal must be removed , it is not our fault that the rest of the caribbean dont know how to enforce their laws and scared of being in an imaginary black list . CSME means ” come see me ” but leave after.
Stop playing the record, Oh no I mean STOP reading
the new about Barbados, it seems as if you had too
much Salt Fish and Bake to eat.
bravo bravo, i will give you my-monkey-seal,,,,its called old news fish&bake
Like Prime Minister David Thompson said, Caricom leaders keep coming out trying to say something new about Barbados’ new immigration policy. A few days ago I read that St. Lucia had 5 murders in 7 days. A Vincentian is reportedly involved in one of the murder cases. A 13 year old girl is a murder suspect and 2 17 year old boys were murder victims. Yesterday’s headline on the St. Lucian newspaper called The Star reads, “St. Lucian Youth are an Endangered Species.” With a headline like that, it is understandable why St. Lucian Prime Minister, Stephenson King, is pushing for free movement for his people. We Bajans have witnessed the decline of many Caricom states and are determined to gain control of our country and keep it from becoming a statistic. The people who criticize us the most are people who allowed their countries to decline.
How many Europeans and North Americans have been deported since the clampdown?
Bajegal, you don’t want Caricom nationals in yr country but you are in the USA. What if Uncle Sam deports you? Secondly,Caricom nationals are being deported but the Lebanese,Pakistanis, Chinese and Syrians are allowed to stay. If Barbados experiences some natural disasters, God forbid, do you think Bajans will be allowed to enter Lebanon,Pakastian, China and Syria? Think again, they will have to head to Caricom countries and with global warming, we don’t know what tomorrow brings. Thus , we need to be careful. Oh, did you read about the Bajan who was caught with drugs at the airport? I guess not…
I for one will see bajan in a diffrent light from now on after looking at most of the comment that the bajans them left on this site.YOU BAJANS NEED TO COME DOWN TO EARTH.
We came down to earth in 1991 when the Government instituted measures to deal with the economy. It was BAJANS that suffered now everyone wants to run in and benefit from our hard work and sacrifice while not paying anything towards our country’s upkeep.
SN should interview those Guyanese who came to Barbados and were able to train at our various institutions and return home with VALID certificates, unlike Guyana where everything is fake.
Talk to some of the Guyanese who were bragging they are going to take over Barbados.Talk to those who were living here and openly cursing Bajans everywhere they went. Trust me, no one misses them , nor do we care what anyone thinks about us.
I will not apologize for how I feel. The reason Owen Arthur is no longer PM of this great country is because he forgot who voted for him. David Thompson will not make the same mistake.
Mr. bigs, I will see certain people in a new light also. Many nasty comments have been made about Bajans on this site. I learned on this site that there are many people who don’t like Bajans and have ill will towards Bajans who are living legally and illegally among Bajans in Barbados. I have lost count of the number of people who have written that they are anxiously awaiting a hurricane or other disaster to wipe out Barbados. Yet,they are pushing to keep their people living among us.
Mr. Bigs,
Lord Kitchener told us about them years ago in his calypso – Take yug meat out muh rice.
rant and rave all you want bajan girl,you people still has not answered the question, how many persons who are not caricom nationals have you people deported from barbados?????
on the contrary bajan girl, we love barbados, you are indeed our brothers and sisters(i love bajan women)but your attitude towards your caricom brothers and sisters are getting a bit distasteful and one other advice to you people, smile, you guys are too serious.
HARD WORK AND SACRIFICE WAS MADE BY GUYANESE HERE. ASK YOUR GRANDPARENTS,ETC. examples include TEACHING BAJANS TO BOIL SUGAR, PLANT SUGAR, AND I CAN GO ON AND ON.
SOME OF YOUR PEOPLE WENT TO GUYANA AND DIDN’T EVEN RETURN. examples include 2 AGARD BROTHERS, THE HOYTES, BURNHAMS, and Mr. Thompson’s foreparents.
So all in all, it is the GUYANESE WHO HAVE ASSISTED IN BUILDING THIS NATION THAT YOU NOW BOUST ABOUT.
mr.bigs , fazman borapork G/t for life & tiger – Heaven , Bajegal and other Bajans are tired of the misinformed blogs on this site and we will defend our country with the truth . Borapork , the Europeans and North Americans , like some other professions from the Caribbean , are making meaningful contribution to Barbados and themselves , legally . We have many foreign investors in Barbados , many of these organisations will never invest their money in Guyana . So borapork , do you want us to deport these people ??? They are not criminals breaking our laws , they are not trafficking illegal drugs , they are not murdering their own people – but we have Guyaneses’ here in our prison for trafficking and importing illegal drugs ; murder , shoplifting and other crimes . Borapork , remember that when Barbados and other CARICOM states signed the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) , Guyana did not signed and President Jagdeo was critical of the EPA , eventhough , he signed it at a later date . A lack of vision is the hallmark of the inept PPP government .
My fellow bajan brothers and sisters , we must keep the “Broken Trident” flying high and at all time we will defend our homeland with the TRUTH .
“The TRUTH is a mighty sword” .
Third world minds4eva…CSME? Stupesss!
Tragic, VERY tragic indeed, how some people have built a mountain out of a mole hole. All it is is that David Thompson is trying to limit the number of non-nationals that we have here in Barbados. And it so happens that 99.9999999…..% of these non-nationals are GUYANESE. Barbados is merely 166 sq. miles. Guyana is some 83, 000 sq. miles. Barbados can fit into Guyana 500 times! We have no lumber, bauxite, gold, diamonds etc. Mind you, we dont even have much of a sugar industry. The sugar we produce here is exported yes, but we dont have sufficient to keep back for ourself. We then have to turn and import sugar! My point in saying all of this is that Barbados is a VERY SMALL place with VERY LITTLE RESOURCES and it is only NATURAL that any RIGHT THINKING PRIME MINISTER who has his country’s interests at heart will put measures in place to curb the number of people coming into his country wanting to live and work! And it is as simple as that!
I love stlucia, cant wait to visit. Trinidad is cool too.
CSME my tooth pick…nice abbrivation tho.
“Come See My Enslavement” nothing more from the truth.
all foreigners [the islanders] should leave the little rock.
These undocumented individuals refused to clean up their act so the B’dos government has no choice but to run them out of Dodge. The pit bulls have left their kennels. Who let the dogs out…who …who…Mr. Thompson?