MYTH AND REALITY OF MIGRANTS FURORE IN BIM
Rickey Singh column
Guyana Chronicle
May 30, 2004
IF ONE follows 'talk radio' programmes in Barbados these days, he or she could come to think that the country is about to be overrun by other nationals of the Caribbean Community, and by Guyanese in particular.
One of the myths being fostered, including by sections of the local media, is that for CARICOM migrants seeking employment opportunities and a better life, all roads lead to Barbados.
Further, that free primary and secondary education exists only in Barbados, when in reality it is the norm in almost all CARICOM countries, including Guyana and Jamaica, with free health services also available in the public sector.
A random check of what obtains in other CARICOM states should prove helpful in a cleansing process for those among us who harbour grouses, prejudices and fan passions about nationals from other Community states.
There is need to stop the perpetuation of the myth that Barbados is being overcrowded with non-nationals in ignorance of the reality of the integration of Barbadians in other CARICOM societies and their increasing percentage among the Caribbean diasporas.
What the negative propaganda may succeed in doing is to generate unnecessary fears and spread social and cultural prejudices beyond controversially moderated 'talk radio' programmes and, ultimately, undermine laudable efforts by our governments, such as plans to usher in a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Truth is that among CARICOM countries, it could be Antigua and Barbuda that has, in terms of resident population, the single largest percentage of non-nationals from within the Community, approximately 28 per cent of its estimated 73,000 population.
And the new government of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer is currently drafting legislation to facilitate qualified non-nationals living there prior to 2000, to become citizens, many of them from the Eastern Caribbean and also Jamaica and Guyana.
Across in Trinidad and Tobago, a so-called `little Grenada’ has long been very much part of the cosmopolitan mix of the diverse peoples of that twin-island, as that Grenadian-born cultural asset of the Caribbean, `Mighty Sparrow’, would remind anyone interested.
The CSME
One of the major pegs for the success of the emerging CSME is the free movement of people, starting initially with an identified five categories -university graduates, sports and media people, musicians and artistes.
The introduction of common legislation providing for these initial categories and paving the way for additions, remains a work in progress.
An audit report on the state of regional legislative preparedness for intra-regional free movement of skilled CARICOM nationals, originally requested by the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Kenny Anthony, should be ready for the coming 25th CARICOM Summit in Grenada in July.
But in Barbados, fresh furore has already erupted over a claimed "one-way trafficking" of jobs-seeking CARICOM nationals, with assumptions of significant numbers being undocumented migrants.
They not only disadvantage Barbadian workers. We are told that they also unfairly benefit from free health services and free education for their children to the ultimate disadvantage of Barbadians.
'Talk radio' programmes have long been offering a regular diet of some very irresponsible, unsourced and mischievous claims about non-nationals in Barbados, with a particular fondness for Guyanese bashing.
However, when a very influential voice of the local and regional labour movement in the person of Sir Roy Trotman, former President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour, gives expression to claimed disadvantages being suffered by Barbadians because of migrant workers, and calls specifically for a state agency to monitor and control of the migrant flow, it becomes an issue for more than Barbadian cabinet ministers who disagree with him.
Question is, should all member states of CARICOM now also consider creating special mechanisms to monitor and control migrant workers - even as they endeavour to complete uniform arrangements for free movement of labour in the context of the CSME? I can see the cynics and opponents of the CSME laughing.
No Support
Both the current chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, himself a trade union leader, and St. Lucia's Anthony, who has lead responsibility for Governance and Justice, made clear in our separate telephone conversations that they had no interest in supporting any initiative that could frustrate the aims and objectives of the CSME, or foster ill-will among Caribbean migrant workers.
The Trinidad-based General Secretary of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), George DePeana, was to also express his "big surprise" over Trotman's call. He said he "seriously doubts" that such a move could secure backing from any CARICOM government.
Meanwhile, facts are sorely needed to support some of the more sweeping generalities to which the Barbadian society is being subjected - on and off `talk radio’ programmes - about migrant workers, including the undocumented ones, with a near obsession with Guyanese bashing.
In the current atmosphere, it could easily be overlooked that CARICOM nationals - Guyanese, St. Lucians, Vincentians, Jamaicans or Trinidadians - who arrive in Barbados seeking employment and possibly a better life, do no more than what thousands of Bajans themselves have been doing over the years. Indeed, continue to do, in and out of the Caribbean region.
Further, it is not officially known from what source has been generated the assumed total of 25, 000 to 30,000 Guyanese residing in Barbados, with claims that a significant percentage are undocumented or illegal.
The Statistical Department of Barbados provides a sharply contrasting picture, showing that with the completion of the 2000 population census, there were 23,485 non-nationals residing in Barbados of the then population of 268, 972.
Of that total resident non-nationals from all countries, six months and more, 15,190 were from CARICOM member states, with Guyanese heading the batch, but less than a third, followed by Vincentians and Grenadians.
Even taking into consideration "assessments" by the Immigration Department of CARICOM nationals who may have overstayed their permitted period of visits, it is quite a leap to assume that since the 2000 census and now, the community of Guyanese residing in Barbados, legal or otherwise, has skyrocketed to the speculative 30,000.
In the relatively small society of Barbados, where could so many Guyanese residents be found, and amid the ongoing deportation taking place for reported breaches of immigration laws?
The Unions
It is true that significant batches of CARICOM nationals have gained employment in some areas, agriculture and construction for example, in which Barbadians either show little or no interest. Or, they are not regarded as "industrious" workers by Barbadian employers, compared with some of their non-national counterparts.
It has been noted that on the specific proposal for a Registry and Inspection Department within the Ministry of Labour to monitor and control migrant workers, Trotman, has passionately spoken, first as General Secretary of his militant Barbados Workers Union and, subsequently, as head of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB)
The jury remains out on what other leading affiliates of the umbrella body, CTUSAB, think of Trotman's call for official monitoring and control of migrant workers. Both the Presidents of the Barbados Union of Teachers, Karen Best, and Joseph Goddard of the National Union of Public Workers, said they have had no discussions on the matter and would prefer not to make any comment at this stage.
Barbados's Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Community Relations, Dame Billie Miller, had earlier expressed "disbelief" in Parliament over Sir Roy's call to monitor and control migrant workers.
Trotman is not, however, a voice to be easily ignored. We can, therefore, look forward to more "discussions" (sic) on and off "talk radio", as Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Mia Mottley, awaits the findings of an authorised proper assessment of the size of the current resident CARICOM nationals in Barbados.