to borrow Rickford Burke’s comment, this particular Hartley article needs “It’s due prominence” This is a line of argument that I have been trying to stay away from, yet so much of what i learn about this issue begs for further exploration.

I always knew that the BLP owen arthur administration was secretly seeking to replicate what is currently happening in Guyana;that is,seeking to increase the guyanese population in barbados and then reward them with permanent residency or citizenship status,thus ensuring that they had a permanent voting bloc for the BLP,just as it is for the PPP right now.

This is what happened in Antigua in the last election,and what Basdeo Panday was seeking to do in the 1990’s when he entered into a pact with ANR Robinson to grant amnesty to a whole lot of guyanese,most of whom were indians.

Manning now seems to be seeking to reverse that with his political union proposal for the Windward islands.

The Caymans has recently wrestled with a similar thing and this is what owen had up his sleeve for bajans.

This is how much he loved this country.

I heard David Thompson and I am proud of the thoroughness and fearlessness of his presentation.

He set out his vision for CARICOM, explained the difficulties, made suggestions and put his peoples’ case eruditely and justly.

He also took questions. Any questions. That is why I admire him and his style. I did not vote for the Dees in the last election and I am going to vote for them next time especially now that I know that Henderson Bovell writes these pro-BLP drivel under the name Dark Knight.

Are our taxpayers paying him?

whart really gwine on ? whart ?-so wait yuh mean that we in Bubados is to allow any r-%*—h-o l–e body from any r——hole place to come here and live just so ????-steupse !!

Imagine if you went into Cave Shepherd and the sales clerk shouted at you and was rude to you. Why should a radio Programme Manager shout at and brow beat a guest repeatedly telling them “say x, y or z or shut up!” Mine you, Ronnie wasn’t even the host, he was just a ‘guest’. And this excuse that it is Fireworks so people should express themselves like that… rubbish! You can be robust and still be civil. What I heard was NOT good radio. Neither is it good manners. It was immature, self-righteous and just plain boorish! Ronnie will have to work very hard to redeem himself. It was disgusting and Denis has to take a lot of blame for not reining in Ronnie. He was like a pitbull all over a guest who had been nothing but civil, mature and well-spoken. Ronnie ought to be disciplined, but Starcom has no standards anyway so nobody hold your breath.

IS THERE A REPORT THAT MEASURES THE PROGRESS OF THE INITIATIVES AGREED TO IN THE HERDMANSTON REPORT?
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Good question AH. That agreement is probably sitting in a dusty drawer never to see the light of day. Who was the Chairman of Caricom these past few years? None other than OSA perhaps some journalist should ask him the question next time he surfaces. They can also ask a) Did he or anyone appoint a team to oversee the audit of “the systemic aspects of the electoral process”? b) Was the report on the agenda or ever discussed at subsequent meetings of Caricom leaders?

I’ll bet that Jagdeo spent more time over the past month attacking Barbados’ immigration policies than he has spent over the past ten years mending fences with the Opposition party or trying to repair the rift that exists among East Indians and Blacks in his country.

Pure Bajan wrote at 11:25 yesterday “the day majority of these guyanese are no benefit to my country…..just taking up space”

Hitler and the Nazis though the same about the Jews. They were taking up space needed by the Nazis for lebenstraum/growth.

Hitler and the Nazis were wrong, and people like my father had to help put some lashes in them.

Pure Bajan or not we may have to put some lashes in you too.

Burke seems to be forgetting all that he said. He claims that his grand parent is Bajan then if so they must be ashamed for him giving up their rights and representing those whp seek to violate Bajan sovereignty . Burke is also giving away African rights for Indian rights.
Shame on CGID which claims to be a Caribbean organisation but when the chip are down can only see out of a Guyanese prisim. Burke entire Press release is below.

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.”