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Caribbean wrestles with migration

Posted by CaribShout on November 7, 2009 at 9:27pm

The news that the Netherlands Antilles has begun a six-week immigration amnesty has cast the spotlight back on intra-Caribbean migration. As many as 70,000 immigrants - mostly Haitian, Guyanese and Jamaican - are estimated to be living on the five Dutch Caribbean islands without valid residency or work permits. They are being given an opportunity to prove they have lived in the Antilles since 31 December 2006, or can show a valid contract from an employer. The amnesty is reported to have met some opposition in Curacao, the largest of the islands.

But Paul De Windt, a newspaper publisher in St Maarten, said it was also being seen as an attempt to "clean up" and regularise the immigration system for those who may have valid reasons to be in the islands. But the Antilleans are not alone, as countries across the Caribbean speak of a backlash against immigration at a time of rising unemployment and an economic crisis. Green Paper Barbados, for example, is in the closing weeks of an immigration amnesty for nationals of Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries. Barbados PM David Thompson

The Barbados Prime Minister has enraged some colleagues with his stance on immigration The grace period was introduced after the government in Bridgetown claimed that it could no longer cope with the numbers migrating from neighbouring states. The administration of Prime Minister David Thompson has since published a green paper (discussion document) on wider immigration reform. The issue is implicated by qualified freedom of movement among a limited category of workers within Caricom. One proposal is for a formal guest worker programme to regulate migrant labour. The document says: "It is designed to achieve a drastic reduction in the number of Caricom nationals who regularly violate the terms of their status as visitors and others who remain illegally in the country after their work permits have expired." Immigration is also a source of tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic who share the island of Hispaniola. Jose Miquel Insulza

The OAS secretary General expressed sympathy for the Dominican Republic Speaking in Santo Domingo on Thursday, the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, said that the problem of Haitian migrants was a heavy burden for Dominican Republic. He said it required the international community's support. Slum area Mr Insulza said: "Although Dominican Republic's level of development is far beyond Haiti's, it's still a country of the developing world, with its needs and problems ..." Nationals of the Spanish speaking nation are also finding it tough in Puerto Rico, where thousands of public sector workers are losing their jobs in a belt-tightening exercise. "They want to scare us away," said Bianely Gonzalez, after a raid on slum area inhabited by mostly Dominican migrants in September. The 32-year-old Dominican travelled to Puerto Rico a decade ago on a homemade wooden boat and lives in a one-room, cinderblock home. Hispaniola map

An estimated one million Haitians may be living in the Dominican Republic Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has also said that the country can no longer sustain an "open and liberal" immigration policy because of the financial crisis and concerns about rising crime. The issue has led to open, sometimes acrimonious disagreement within Caricom. The leaders of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana have in the past been extremely critical of the actions of some other member nations. They would have taken some heart from the latest comments by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, who has called for an end to the exploitation and hatred of immigrants. At the same time, he has called for zero tolerance of people trafficking, which has helped to drive the movement across borders. The traffic works both ways. Other shores An October report by the United Nations Development Programme noted that the top 13 emigra­tion countries in the world are all small states. Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis have emigration rates above 40% of the their populations. Antigua has the highest of 45% which means that, on average, close to one in every two people leave for other shores. Other Caribbean nations which an emigration rate of more than a third of the population include Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Guyana. The lowest rate is from Haiti, from where fewer than one in ten emigrate. Money

Some Caribbean nations depend on the cash sent home by nationals abroad If Haiti is a surprise, the UNDP says the poorest people are the least likely to go abroad. The report says it aims to dispel misconceptions about migration, as migrants generally help to create jobs and generate business initiatives. It notes that the financial benefits associated with migration are relatively large for small states. Economic growth The annual highest flows relative to gross domestic product are found in the Caribbean, with remittances accounting for 8% of GDP. That money transfer, mostly from industrialised capitals is welcomed, of course. Caribbean governments say they are aware that the migration issue requires a delicate balancing act for them. Said the Barbados green paper: "The Government is acutely aware of the challenges it faces in trying to implement a modern migration regime which facilitates sustained and sustainable economic growth, while protecting the integrity of national borders and contributing to domestic safety and security."
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