Most of these Treaties we are reading about that is claimed Barbados has signed on too, I’m reading for the first time. May I suggest that when these things come up, which ever government is in power in Barbados, that the matter/s be discussed with the citizens before committing us to these treaties. If bajans are not united on these matters, one day we would wake up and find that Barbados is “not our very own.”

Barbadians owe a debt of gratitude to Lindsay Holder for taking this debate to the next level.

Again we ask where are the journalists? For example in this situation we would have tried to solicit responses from David Commissiong, Peter Wickham and Rickey Singh by asking the hard questions raised by the contradictions of their respective public offerings on this matter.
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On another matter, BU received reports that yesterday a heavy police presence visited the River Minibus terminal and several people were seen running away, literally scattering. It pains us to report the fact that illegal immigrants would rather run from the law than visit the immigration office to start the process of regularization in the amnesty period. This is sad and it needs to be addressed.

@LIB

We did not write it but it seems you can only operate in Black or White realms and cannot accept that in a 166 sq mile country observations made are valid when seen in a context.

We have a large group of mainly Indo-Guyanese who run at the arrival of the police in the bus stand. If you were a casual observer in the prevailing climate what would you read into it, nothing?

It was deliberate and had noting to do with being economical with the truth.

@Tech and General Lee

It is and observation which Straight Talk has made before, follow the money!

Should B’dos leave CARICOM, the CCJ and CSME? I believe it should.

Bermuda, the Cayman Is., BVI and even Turks and Caicos Is. are all doing well and these are not part of CARICOM and receive little aid from Britain.

We should limit our involvement with the rest of the C’bean to UWI, CXC, CDB and the WI cricket team. We also need to make every effort to reduce the influence of Trinidad in our economic affairs. The CLICO troubles may be a golden opportunity in this regard. We need to take away our support from the Nation group, BNB , Shipping and Trading and MaCal associated companies. Our focus right now is on the Guyanese as these impact on the working class end of the economic spectrum but at the managerial/professional end, the Trinidadians are undermining our control of Barbados to the benefit of Trinidad. If we don’t something soon Barbados will be a colony of the Trinidad/Guyana mafia with crime and violence the everyday experience of ordinary Bajans.

@Themis

It was not our intention to deliberately point to East Indian people running but to the general point that we have people living in fear of the law and this is not healthy for the well being of a stable society which has been a sacrosanct characteristic of the Barbados society through the years.

@Anonymous/
“Bermuda, the Cayman Is., BVI and even Turks and Caicos Is. are all doing well and these are not part of CARICOM and receive little aid from Britain.”

They (and Anguilla) are part of CARICOM, but not full members, merely associates, because they are not independent nation states. They are British overseas territories, sovereign to the UK.

To quote the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the independent territories are “reliant on UK aid”. You can check the evidence given to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.

An observation i made recently is a fair amount of strange face indo-guyanese in my area. What is so obvious, is that they travel in two and are seen early on morning or late at night walking around the area. They are so stupid that they are walking and speaking to everyone in the area, something that NONE of them were doing before. Could it be that they are hiding from the immigration and trying to befriend the neighbours so that we wouldn’t squeal on them? One neighbour told us that one of the indo-guyanese who cultivates some land in the area passed and offered his wife a quantity of onions and told her she can distribute them with her friends; she refused them with the reason that they had bought a bag a few days ago. This guy used to ride pass every day and don’t even speak, now he’s making offers.

@Themis

The silence of the church on this one is deafening and, I dare say, hypocritical!
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Care to expand on that statement? What exactly should the church be doing?

Themis
If these strangers are on holiday, we welcome them. However, my few questions are.
!.) How come these visitors are so friendly, when their hosts were not?
2.) how come the host is only now trying to be friendly after being around for over two years?
3.) Finally my statement is simple, it shows that with all the talk about Barbados, indo-guyanese are still w3illing to come to this country on holiday, plus they are being allowed to enter the country.

Scout you must understand that Guyanese leaders have no answers for their failures, so their approach is to deflect and point fingers at others for their shortcomings. It does not matter if it’s the UN,US,Barbados, They are all wrong and they are right just because they say so.
Has anyone heard from Randy Persuad recently?

@Sargeant/Themis
The clergy/religious establishments have not been silent, and some may be able to report what has been said either from the pulpit, or in other church forums, or in temples, synagogues and other places of worship. Other than that, we are relying on the media to give us what they deem newsworthy. Read, for example, the piece in The Nation yesterday, http://www.nationnews.com/story/-Isaacs—Immigration-Issue-copy-for-web

Enuff // June 30, 2009 at 11:25 am

Water rates up by 60% and we on another immigration thread. The government has surely found a masterful way of keeping us occupied.
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Not ENUFF being done.

save the water run off from your roof. It helps me tremendously with my water bill. I have not attach the hose to my outside tap so far for the summer, and I water my plants, vegetable garden and wash de van from my two rain barrels. I am even prepared to connect them to my toilets if the need arises. Workable approaches to combat rising water rates. Yes, we can combat rising water rates and the rising illegal immigrant population at the sametime.

@Carson C. Cadogan
It take it from your reply that you have no information on murder and mayhem in Barbados as it relates to Jamaicans? Talk is indeed cheap.

I do remember the ‘posses’ (or “Yardees”) in the US, UK and elsewhere, but in the context of those foreign countries, your remark “causing mayhem and murder” is hyperbole. Sweeping as the statement is, it deals with a criminal minority not the migrant majority. Criminals who have joined well established areas of crime already in the US (drugs, gangs, etc.) Unlike reggae and the gully creeper, or jerk seasoning, crime is not a Jamaican creations.

Relative to size, I could take the case of the Bajan fraudster on trial in Jamaica and say something similar. But, that would be silly.

@Adrian Hinds
At the risk of digressing on this thread, I have made some of the following remarks before, elsewhere.

The proposed increase in water rates does not come with any justification of how it will deal with the parlous financial condition of BWA. While the PM recently stated figures on the extent of the arrears, he said nothing about how a rate increase would be combined with arrears reduction to ensure that the financial situation would be improved. The IADB is supposed to be working with BWA on improving its management. But, if arrears are a major problem, the a rate increase does not address that: those who do not pay now seem unlikely to pay higher rates; those who do pay now will continue to bear the financial burden, but may now be pushed into arrears.

On ways to save water and distribute it better, no concrete proposals have been made, and many stories and instances can be cited of wasted water.

The minister concerned has noted that the current personnel is ill-equipped to fulfill the functions expected of BWA and seeks a total overhaul of recruitment.

All that said, the Budget speech several weeks ago gave no indication of what the situation for BWA would look like after the increase.

Do I hear let’s hope it improves?

@Adrian Hinds
” I pointed out how we can combat the water rates, and continue to combat illegal immigration at the sametime.”
That’s a given, even if the combat is not in this space.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary (printed or online) gives a definition of ‘ethnic cleansing’ as : the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity. Other definitions add ‘discrimination’.

Re “ethnic cleansing”, here is the copy

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/news/local/06/27/sir-shridath-%E2%80%98we-forget-our-oneness-at-our-peril%E2%80%99/

Hello Adrian,
Please see below a definition of ‘ethinc clensing’ and notes on its origin.

One definition of ethnic cleansing is as follows:
“The systematic elimination of an ethnic group or groups from a region or society, as by deportation, forced emigration, or genocide.”

The term ‘ethnic cleansing’ is a contentious and ill-defined one used extensively from May 1992 onwards by the international media, Western politicians, and diplomats to describe a systematic policy of mass killings, deportation, rape, internment, and intimidation engaged in by rival ethnic groups of the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina with the goal of rendering ethnically mixed areas homogeneous, and thereby establishing a de facto claim on ethnic grounds to sovereignty over disputed territory. The term was principally, though not exclusively, applied to the actions of Bosnian-Serb paramilitaries backed by elements of the Yugoslav People’s Army. Subsequently, the term has been used to refer to other instances of minority persecution world-wide.

There is a blog below about the BWA, BU will again post on the state of the water issue in Barbados later. It is that important an issue.

@Adrian

In response to your earlier query Sir Sridath retired as Commonwealth Secretary General in 1990.

Goodness me!

The guyanese on Starbroek news are now saying that in silver hill the immigration officers and police used ‘taregas’ – he means tear gas on them – and break open their door with a crowbar.

He is telling his other guyanese countrymen that he knows this ‘for a fact’.

Boy guyanese people too lie.

I regret the day we elected owen arthur and the BLP – for that is the day we destroyed this country with these low life guyanese who after earning money to improve themselves; to build houses and open businesses,they are now cussing bajans because the well drying up.

Listening to them you would get the impression that they gave and gave to barbados and got nothing in return.

The following press release was received from the Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) today. Usually we would give the press release prominence but given our recent heavy focus on the immigration matter we have taken the decision to update with this blog. We note with interest the CGID has made no mention of Prime Minister David Thompson’s recent statement.

June 6, 2009

For immediate release

Contact: Jevon Suralie, Director of Communications

Telfax: 646-807-3174. Email: caribbeaninstitute@gmail.com

New York Caribbean Institute says Barbados immigration practices repugnant to CARICOM

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: The Guyanese-American President of the New York based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), Rickford Burke, has said that Barbados’s new immigration policy is “divisive” and “supercilious,” and undermines the Caribbean Community.”

“The extant immigration practices in Barbados lack careful thought, have been fundamentally discriminatory and are antithetical to the values of the integration movement,” Burke asserted.

His comments come weeks after Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, announced a new policy that allow undocumented Caribbean nationals who began residing in Barbados prior to 2005 to be given Barbadian government identification and work permits, but subject those who entered thereafter and remain undocumented to deportation.

Thompson’s policy has come under withering criticism from fellow regional Heads of Government and other individuals, forcing the Prime Minister to make a strong defense last Saturday.

In a statement Tuesday, Burke charged that “Prime Minister Thompson is attempting to build a protectionist wall around Barbados, and has created the perception that “Barbados is only for “Bajans.”

“This is unquestionably repugnant to Caricom and is undermining Caribbean unity,” he added.

Blasting Thompson’s increased deportations and early morning raids against undocumented Caricom nationals, Burke accused the Bajan leader of promoting “national insularity” in the Caribbean and of stoking jingoistic fears in Barbados.”

Guyanese constitute the largest immigrant block in Barbados. The CGID head noted that many Guyanese, particularly those residing in Barbados, believe that immigration enforcement disproportionately and calculatedly targets Guyanese. He said that the Prime Minister’s own statistics, which he disclosed at a press conference last Saturday at Grantley Adams International Airport, validate this assessment.

According to media reports, Thompson disclosed that from June 1 to 26, raids were made on 15 residences between 3 am and 6 am, leading to the detention and removal of 47 non-nationals, 34 of whom were Guyanese.

However, Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett yesterday disputed Thompson’s figures, announcing that in May, twenty-nine (29) Guyanese were deported from Barbados, and twenty-four (24) so far for the month of June. In total, 53 Guyanese have been deported from Barbados since Thompson’s policy was implemented on May 5, 2009.

Burke labeled the tactics of Barbados immigration authorities as draconian, and more aligned with “George Bush’s” approach to immigration” than Caribbean unity. He condemned the ongoing raids on suspected undocumented nationals as inhumane. “This must stop. These are families who seek a better life in a sister Caribbean state. They deserve to be treated with dignity,” Burke contended.

Responding to Thompson’s widely reported comments that “I have announced a domestic immigration policy that is not a matter for other Caribbean prime ministers to comment on,” Burke said “Those words portend arrogant isolationism.”

“We agree that everyone must abide by the law and that anyone who commits crimes must be brought to justice. However, this must be within the framework of the rule of law, rules and spirit of Caricom, as well as international norms of civil rights and fundamental fairness,” Burke stressed.

He noted that “We also agree that immigration policy throughout the region needs to be reformed and rationalized. In this context, unilateral, singular and uncoordinated action by one government, is counterproductive to a harmonized regional policy approach that promotes deeper integration, which we all seek.”

“The Caribbean Community is plagued by illiberalness and barren commitment to genuine integration. Some Heads of Government go to Caricom conferences and agree to decisions they have no intentions of implementing. As the integration and implementation process intensifies and the ramifications become real, their posture then become one of ambivalence and insularity. This is unacceptable and they must be called on it,” the CGID president said.

He cited Barbados’ immigration policy as well as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as prime examples. It a reference to OECS countries, The Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad, Burke said that it is insulting to the people of the region that these countries do not recognize the Appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice, but rather cling to the Privy Council which is a relic of the so-called imperial oppression, which some of the very leaders claimed to have fought against. He opined that in Trinidad’s case the circumstance is particularly disgraceful, as the court is based in that country, where its Appellate jurisdiction is not recognized. 

“It is such actions or non-action which have caused Caribbean integration to morph into more of a concept rather than reality, as manifested in obvious protectionist and hostile policies, driven by narrow, national interests, the Institute’s head said.

Burke called on regional heads to “roundly condemn the Barbadian policy at this week’s Caricom heads’ Summit in Guyana.” He especially singled out Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, and called on him to “stand up and represent Guyanese for once.”

Burke also called on Thompson “To halt all draconian immigration practices and confer with his regional counterparts to conceptualize a more “altruistic, uniform and progressive” immigration policy that is congruous with the spirit of Caribbean integration and free movement of peoples, as envisioned by the revised Treaty of Chaguramas.”

Quoting Mr. Rickford Burke

“Burke labeled the tactics of Barbados immigration authorities as draconian, and more aligned with “George Bush’s” approach to immigration” than Caribbean unity. He condemned the ongoing raids on suspected undocumented nationals as inhumane. “This must stop. These are families who seek a better life in a sister Caribbean state. They deserve to be treated with dignity,” Burke contended.’

Is Mr. Burke a madman? Is he saying that families seeking better life in a sister Caribbean state can work and live there illegally ad infinitum? I hope
David Thompson reads BU. Which Caribbean agreement are you in breach of , by the introduction of your new immigration policy? Ask the Jagdeo’s and Gonsalves to tell the people of Barbados, who are overwhemingly supporting you in what you are doing, about the breach.