(Barbados Nation) Opposition Leader Mia Mottley has warned Government that its new immigration policy is already beginning to give Barbados a bad reputation in the region and could possibly affect the economy.
“A government is entitled to implement strong policies. These policies, however, must be applied consistently, fairly and humanely,” she said in a statement on Saturday.
“Moreover, for a country where people’s standard of living depends on people visiting our shores, any reputation of Barbados being inhospitable to visitors will affect our economy,” Mottley added.
The Opposition Leader’s comments came on the heels of Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo’s statement over the weekend in which he took exception to the treatment of Guyanese in Barbados as reported to him by Guyana’s Honorary Consul Norman Faria.
The Guyanese leader said he had spoken to Prime Minister David Thompson on the issue and noted that his administration would do all it could to assist Guyanese who might be deported with resettling in their homeland.
To this end, Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues will be in Barbados for a regional meeting and while here she will meet Guyana nationals, some of whom might be affected by Government’s six-month amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
Jagdeo said his government would not stand by and see Guyanese treated unfairly anywhere without speaking up for them. He said the situation would be discussed at the regional Heads of Government meeting.
‘Must be corrected’
Mottley said it was critical for Barbados to “correct the unfortunate reputation which Barbados is rapidly developing in recent weeks”.
“A hostile environment for immigrants must not be an unwelcome environment for Caribbean visitors. The focus must be simply who have arrived and who have never been documented . . . .
“Further, that when people are asked to leave that they are given the time to pack up their belongings and leave in a manner that does not reduce them to feeling like criminals,” she said.
According to Jagdeo, there were reported instances of Guyanese allegedly having their homes raided at night and also being taken off buses and deported.
“Prime Minister Thompson said to me that he didn’t know of any such case, and that is not the intention of his Government, and that he is willing to meet with our honorary consul to discuss any case and to investigate any such case,” Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo noted that some of the arguments put forward about immigrants putting pressure on the social security of the countries in which they resided were not really valid.
On this, Mottley said Thompson as lead Prime Minister for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy must settle the contingent rights as a matter of urgency.
“It is the uncertainty as to what social services persons will be entitled to receive when they move to live in another country that has driven many of the legitimate concerns expressed by Barbadians and others in the region,” she added.
