Ramphal rejects claims

FORMER Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal has rejected claims that he linked Barbados' immigration policy to 'ethnic cleansing'.
"I very much regret the misleading information that has wrongly attributed remarks to me about 'ethnic cleansing' in Barbados," he said in a statement issued yesterday.
"I make it absolutely clear that I never made even an insinuation about this in relation to Barbados, or any other country in the Caribbean." Read full article here

August 26th, 2009

The exodus of professionals

THE disclosure that large batches of foreign doctors and nurses will soon be arriving in Trinidad and Tobago to work in the medical sector underscores the challenge facing most, if not all, Caricom countries-a serious shortage of such urgently needed professionals.

Ironically, it is small and poor Cuba, still suffering from the enormous consequences of almost half a century of the US economic blockade, that continues to maintain a high profile in assistance with medical personnel and facilities to the region. Read full article here

August 12th, 09

Take it back!

by Tony Best

CHARLIE SKEETE, a former Barbados Ambassador in Washington, has taken issue with the term "ethnic cleansing" by Sir Shridath Ramphal, a former Commonwealth secretary, in reference to Barbados' new immigration policy.

"Coming from somebody like [Sir] Shridath Ramphal, who has had a prominent Caribbean position, I would have thought that there would have been a lot more care and thought before a statement like that would cross his lips," said Skeete. "He knows better." Read full article

August 16th, 09

NEW YORK NEW YORK Obama move welcome

by Tony Best, August 14th, 09

TO ANY BAJAN either living illegally in the United States or hoping to be joined by a close relative, President Barack Obama's words were like sweet music to the ears.

"I think the American people want fairness. And we can create a system in which you have strong border security and an orderly process for people to come in," was the way Obama put it at a news conference attended by the leaders of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.

"But we're also giving an opportunity for those who are already in the United Sates to be able to achieve a pathway to citizenship so they don't have to live in the shadows," he added. Read full article

The West Indies Death Wish

Fragmentation of the once mighty West Indian Cricket Team mirrors the disintegration of the West Indian nation

by Mike James

The Editor of the Prestigious Wisden Cricketers Almanac Scyld Berry, in an article in Wednesday’s UK Daily Telegraph writes:"West Indian cricket seems to have a death wish, to judge by the inability of its administrators and players to pull together. Not even the ultimate humiliation of being beaten at home by Bangladesh has sparked any common sense, purpose or sanity."

In the article, which unsurprisingly headlined the sports pages of regional newspapers such as the Trinidad Express and Guyana’s Stabroek News, Berry said that while he felt that the West Indies might assemble “decent” teams for World Cups and Twenty20 tournaments, their incompetence at Test level “is now a sorry fact.” Read full article here

EDITORIAL - CARICOM's lack of clarity on global crisis

Reprinted from the Jamaica Gleaner

A week ago, Prime Minister Bruce Golding hosted two of his fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, Trinidad and Tobago's Patrick Manning, and Guyana's Bharrat Jagdeo, to discuss a regional response to the global economic crisis.

Messrs Golding, Manning and Jagdeo may still be polishing up ideas, or have presented to the community a full menu of strategies for jointly tackling the recession. But in so far as the public is aware, the leaders emerged from last Monday's summit without a single proposal. Read full article

August 9th, 2009

Unjust Ramphal bashing on 'ethnic cleansing' talk

by Rickey Singh

TALK OF "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide", used occasionally by reckless or frustrated political elements in our Caribbean Community, belong to the lexicon of a diseased political culture that have had horrible manifestations in what was once Yugoslavia and in a few African states.

In our region, we are accustomed to learning, or worse, experiencing, cases of discrimination based on ethnicity and, to a lesser extent, nationality. However strong the claims of such discrimination, the familiar refrain from officialdom has been "not true". Read full article

Criminal Deportees To Caribbean Tops 50 Thousand Mark In Decade

Deportees being loaded on to a plane for return to the Caribbean (ICE Image)

CaribWorldNews, WASHINGTON, D.C., Fri. July 17, 2009: Over 50,000 convicted Caribbean-born criminals, who have called the U.S. home for many years, have been shipped back to the Caribbean in the past decade under tough U.S. immigration laws, a CaribWorldNews analysis of new Department of Homeland Security data reveals. Read full article

Crucial innings for Windies cricket

Astute diplomat that he is, Sir Shridath Ramphal must know that he is doing more than brokering a deal in the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) which has crippled the regional team and left their top-tier players in the wilderness.

Sir Shridath's appointment as mediator seemingly brought to an end the stand-off between WIPA and the WICB which saw the first choice Windies players refusing to play in the Bangladesh series, citing pay and contract issues as their main grievances. Read full article here

August 7th, 09

Dominican Republic to host joint workshop with CARICOM in Sept

Guyanese Head of State Bharrat Jagdeo and President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic on Tuesday agreed on the need to strengthen relations and build confidence between CARICOM and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country following its request for membership. In that regard, it was proposed that a joint workshop be held on the functioning of CARICOM and that both sides sit together to discuss collaboration in the area of multi-destination tourism, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday. Read full article

August 6th, 09

John King and Caribbean Integration

The Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) would like to publicly congratulate veteran Barbadian calypsonian, John King, on placing second in the Calypso Monarch competition with an outstanding composition about the power, beauty and value of our Caribbean integration movement. John has performed the very laudable service of calming and reassuring the Barbadian people, at a time of tension and apprehension about the relatively large number of CARICOM brothers and sisters who have migrated to Barbados in recent years.

Put simply, John King has helped Barbadians to... Read full article

August 4th, 09

CARICOM proposes new measures for debt relief, loan refinancing

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has announced that it intends to approach multilateral lending agencies with proposals for debt relief

and loan refinancing.

At the same time, the regional body has signalled its intent to press Venezuela to at least delay proposed changes to the PetroCaribe arrangement.

Guyana's President, Bharrat Jagdeo, head of the CARICOM prime ministerial task force charged with devising a recovery plan for the region in light of the turbulent world economic recession, has said Caribbean development may stagnate if the proposals are not taken on-board.

Read Full Article

August 5th,2009

Region must save Haiti- Andaiye

The plight of Haiti has continued for too long and the region will regret not intervening, Red Thread International Coordinator, Andaiye, has said.

She made the remarks during the final session of the Kwame Ture Memorial Lecture Series at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, on Sunday where she spoke before a number of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) on her experiences with the troubled Caribbean neighbour. Read full article

August 5th, 09

Dominican ordered deported from Antigua, Jamaican chooses to leave

By Stabroek staff | July 10, 2009 in Regional News

(Antigua Sun) A 50-year-old Commonwealth of Dominica national who pleaded guilty to remaining in Antigua after the expiration of a permit is to be removed from the state, while a 24-year-old Jamaican has opted to leave voluntarily instead of being deported.

The Dominican, Elias Baron, appeared in the St John’s Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday where it was revealed that... Read full article

Court separates Jamaican woman from children

By Stabroek staff| July 2, 2009 in Regional News

(Antigua Sun) – A Jamaican woman was recently severely reprimanded before being ordered deported when she appeared in the St John’s Magistrates’ Court.

Samantha Tanya Peart pleaded guilty to remaining in Antigua and Barbuda after the expiration of a permit legally issued to her by the Immigration Department. She appeared before Magistrate Joan Fung. Read full article

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Sir Shridath should take back words

Reprinted from the Nation News

by TONY BEST

"I THINK Sir Shridath Ramphal should consider withdrawing his words."

Sir Courtney Blackman, the first Governor of Barbados' Central Bank and a former ambassador in Washington, was referring to Sir Shridath's use of the term "ethnic cleansing" to describe the effects of Barbados' immigration policy, meaning the deportation of scores of illegal immigrants from the country, especially of Indo-Guyanese descent. Read full article

July 31st, 09

OUR CARIBBEAN: Lamming's inspiring Conversations

Reprinted from the Nation News

by RICKEY SINGH

THIS WEEKEND, when the climax of the Crop-Over Festival coincides with Emancipation Day celebratory activities, and at a period of discussions on issues of race and nationality, I consider it relevant to draw readers' attention to the recently released and latest in a trilogy of publications on Conversations by the iconic novelist and thinker George Lamming.

Perhaps the most quotable of West Indian writers on the political history, culture, race, class and nationality of the English-speaking Caribbean, Lamming was last month honoured by....continue reading

July 31st, 09