Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) President Dr Compton Bourne says the issue of undocumented immigrants in Barbados should be handled with much more sensitivity than it has been so far, adding that there are too many stories of people being rounded-up during raids and deported.
Bourne, who is currently in Guyana, as guest speaker at the 27th Annual Caribbean Conference of Chartered Accountants said in an exclusive interview with this newspaper that he felt due process should be observed in the way the authorities implement the new immigration policy which targets Caricom nationals only.
The new policy, which was announced on May 5, by Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson, applies to all undocumented Caricom nationals who entered the island prior to December 31, 2005 and remained undocumented for a period of eight years or more.
Acknowledging that the policy has spurred much debate in the light of reports of ill-treatment by immigration officials particularly to Guyanese, Bourne said “that is not the proper way to do it”.
Bourne, a Guyanese who resides in Barbados and heads the St Michael-headquartered CDB, said he felt the issue was one that has been very short of facts.
“I have never seen any statistics that tells one authoritatively how many Guyanese and Caricom immigrants are in Barbados illegally. That has never been disclosed in all the public communication I have seen,” he said.
As regards the way some are being rounded-up and deported, Bourne said he felt the entire issue of undocumented immigrants was one that required much sensitivity.
“I think that it should be handled with much more sensitivity than it seems to have been handled with so far in Barbados. There are way too many stories in the media about the rounding-up of people and I think that is not the proper way to do it,” he reasoned.
He said due process should be applied if it is found that people are illegal and it is determined that they should leave. “There should be a proper way to handle it. Rounding up people like prisoners in the dead of night is not the way to do it.”
Bourne said Barbados, by these actions, could hurt its relationship with the rest of the Caribbean and its image in the international community.
‘Dragged our feet’
Meanwhile, Bourne also said he felt the region has far too long delayed decision-making with regard to the issue of the rights of Caricom skilled workers who seek employment outside their home countries.
“I also think that we in the region have dragged our feet on the question of contingent rights for workers,” he lamented. He added that even those who are legal migrants have encountered difficulties with the status of dependents in the countries that accept them.
“And this is because we have not committed at the Caricom level, even though it is always on the agenda, to the equivalence of treatment of people and their dependents in all countries,” he said.
He insisted too that “contingent rights” for workers has to be confronted fully and in a fairly dispassionate manner. “I don’t feel that is being done right now.”
Bourne also said that countries cannot separate the movement of labour from the question of capital movement and trade in a single market and economy and if the region is committed to the single market and economy it must observe all the pillars of that process.
Raids continuing
Even as Prime Minister Thompson has denied any knowledge of raids and pledged to investigate any such allegations brought to his attention, a report in the Weekend Nation captured the concern of a Barbadian landlord whose premises was raided in search of Guyanese.
The article also features an undocumented Guyanese national living in Barbados who escaped capture and deportation by immigration authorities.
The man was not at home on the night the authorities raided his south coast apartment. Fifteen other Guyanese were taken out of their rented homes.
“When I got to my room, the door was off, all my clothes thrown on the floor, my suitcase ravaged and all my documents and money gone. I could not believe it. I had recently bought a Dreambox, a DVD player, and I had Bds$1,300 saved and it’s all gone,” the man was quoted in the Weekend Nation as saying.
The landlord also spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity and said he was concerned about the treatment his tenants had received.
“They broke in all of my rooms and terrified persons who were not even illegal. One lady was dragged off the toilet and all the urine and stool fell on the floor.
“It was humiliating for her, only for them to find out after that she was a legal Guyanese here. People are human beings and I have to foot the bill for all these repairs.
“The next problem I’m faced with is, all the belongings of these persons deported have been left behind. I’m giving them a month to get a friend or family member here to collect the items. If not, I’ll be renting these rooms with the appliances left behind,” the landlord said, revealing that he rented several rooms to Guyanese, Barbadians and recently Colombian women, who were also deported after the raid.
Meanwhile, according to the Nation report, the Guyanese man has insisted that he will remain in Barbados, hiding and working until December, so he could save enough money to return home and live comfortably.
“I plan to evade them until December because had I been caught the other morning, all the appliances I bought would have been left behind and I’ve been here for four years, spent a lot of money here. I made my contribution and no one will give me the time of day to get my status sorted out, so I’ll make the most of it until then and just leave,” he told the Nation.
