Dear Editor,
The decision of the Jagdeo administration to expel all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) from Guyana appears to be nothing more than a veiled attempt to distract the citizens and importantly, the independent media from covering the daily perversities that transpire on its watch, at times implicitly. The Mormon religion is recognized throughout the world, and former United States presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Senate majority leader Harry Reid are members and in their early years, were missionaries, though not to Guyana.
It is ironic that this administration and many Guyanese nationals decried the manner in which Barbados, a sovereign nation elected to enforce their immigration laws when large numbers of Guyanese nationals were being rounded up and sent home for being in violation of that country’s immigration laws. If I’m not mistaken, one of the key reasons there was such a hue and cry, was because it was alleged that Guyanese were not afforded due process/their day in court. Now here is the Guyana government operating in the same manner with the omnipotent President summoning some members of the church to his office so that he can appear beneficent by allowing them to leave within thirty days.
Guyana is approximately the size of the state of Idaho in the United States. Evidence abounds that there aren’t sufficient resources to police its borders with Venezuela and Suriname to stop cross border incursion, drug and human trafficking or to uncover illegal airstrips that bring in drugs unfettered. This is a place where the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police and the micro-managing President can’t muster the resources or political will to deploy all available resources to find a missing ten-year-old boy who disappeared when the two men he was with died under unexplained circumstances and the members of the disciplined forces are once again viewed as suspects.
Some will argue that Guyana has a right to enforce its immigration laws as it sees fit, and I don’t disagree. However, don’t let the government proffer specious reasons such as the Mormons’ failure to renew their work permits when according to reports in the media, in February 2008 and June 2008 the Mormons submitted applications for their extension and the relevant ministry responded and sent them proof of receipt. Nowhere does it state that their applications were denied and they were placed in deportation proceedings, failed to appear and were ordered removed and failed to comply with said order. These church members were not absconders engaging in activities that posed a threat to the state. The state knew where they were all the time.
How does a benign issue as Mormons overstaying their visas percolate all the way to a President for him to act as the arbitrator? In Guyanese parlance “there is more in the mortar beside the pestle.” All Guyanese but more importantly PPP supporters should stop being silent and ashamed of what this government is doing in their name, as these actions reflect on all Guyanese. When the thrust of its foreign policy is for a supine President to fly around the world with hat in hand begging and cozying up to rogue states and irrational world leaders while back home he repays his biggest benefactor by expelling missionaries, this will only engender consequences the ordinary Guyanese never asked for or wanted. Maybe this will wake up all to see this government for what it is.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Jason
