Brown says that net inward migration into Britain has fallen

Gordon Brown insisted today that immigration is not out of control by quoting new figures demonstrating that net migration to Britain has fallen since 2007 and promising further substantial cuts.

He claimed that new overseas student rules and a clampdown on "bogus" colleges will mean 40,000 fewer students coming to Britain in 2010/11 and promised to close the door on non-European skilled care workers and chefs being recruited by 2014.

The prime minister tried to define the debate on immigration in the coming election by saying it was time for mainstream politicians to present a "united front" against those who did not value a diverse Britain and wanted to end immigration just because they don't like migrants.

Read full article here.

Track them!

Published on: 3/31/2010.


by BARRY ALLEYNE

THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT needs a region-wide criminal database so as protect the island from people who may be tempted in getting involved in criminal activity when they arrive here as part of CARICOM's freedom of movement of people.

And that's an option that should form part of the policy considerations of those responsible for completing a white paper on managed migration, consultant criminologist Yolande Forde says.

Forde, who made a brief presentation at the final town hall meeting and public consultation attended by Prime Minister David Thompson last week, elaborated yesterday, informing the MIDWEEK NATION that such a database would also allow the department to be aware of the criminal antecedents of people from CARICOM entering Barbados.

Read full article here.

Caribbean on verge of bankruptcy

Region on verge of bankruptcy says Guyana president


Published on: 3/31/2010.


GEORGETOWN - President Bharrat Jagdeo says the Caribbean is on the verge of bankruptcy as many countries were spending more on servicing external debt and has reiterated his call for urgent debt relief by the international financial institutions.

Jagdeo, who heads a special Caribbean Community (CARICOM) task force to assess the financial crisis in the region, told a media conference recently that the debt situation is worsening.

"The region is heading towards bankruptcy if countries could be declared bankrupt, many of the countries simply cannot pay their way and they can't meet recurring cost and pay their debts," the Guyana head of state warned.

He added that poor productivity and the heavy debt were the main factors contributing to the financial crisis in the region, adding that the situation was further exacerbated by the global financial crisis, the reduction in exports, remittances and tourist arrivals.

Jagdeo's comments came during the CARICOM heads meeting with top officials of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank in Dominica earlier this month.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick said his organisation was willing to sending experts to the various Caribbean countries to assess their debt management strategies. (CMC)

Case against CARICOM for unauthorised use of software

by Barry Alleyne
David vs Goliath will have to wait another day.
Barbadian inventor and information systems specialist David Weekes was to have his day in court yesterday, but instead, he simply had his day at court.
That’s because the court case in which he is suing CARICOM for illegal use of an information tracking system he developed, never got off the ground.
Weekes’ attorney, Douglas Trotman said yesterday that the case file necessary for any court proceeding to commence, had not been located by the Registration Department.
“The case never appeared on the court list to be heard today,” Trotman told the DAILY NATION yesterday from the courthouse. “I was informed that searches were made at the registry for the file, and it has not been located.”
The lawyer said he would now have to write the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Marva Clarke, to have a new date set for the matter to be heard.

Read full article here.

Annalee to speak about her work at the Seminar Series in Theory and Criticism at Cave Hill

Detail from "Just beyond my Imagination" - Floor mat engraved with text - 'Members Preferred'.


The next presentation in the series will be by Annalee Davis and will take place on Monday April 12 from 10.30 am to noon in the Computer Science, Maths and Physics Conference Room.

The title of her presentation is “Of People and Lands: Project 45 and Maps.” Here is her abstract:

Do visual artists have a part to play in contributing to an understanding of Caribbean societies? Can their creative investigations be seen as parallel forms of inquiry? This presentation contributes to the seminar series from the perspective of a visual artist working with installation, video, and wall-based work.

My visual presentation includes the sharing, in part, of two bodies of artistic works – Project 45 & Maps. Project 45 examines anxieties surrounding intra-Caribbean migration within the context of Article 45 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. An evolving suite of forty-five inter-related pieces, Project 45 evolved out of a thirty-minute video project - On the Map, to continue examining issues of failed implementation, free movement, insularity, xenophobia, intolerance, racism, identity and human rights abuses in the Southern Caribbean.

The works are also informed by the Green Paper put forward by the government of Barbados in late 2009 - outlining the state's proposed changes to immigration law - suggestions which in spirit, contradict the commitment to the Revised Treaty, and which are designed to make it even more difficult for CARICOM non-nationals to improve their livelihoods through movement.

In Maps, I look at how the beauty of Barbados as a small island developing state is being irreversibly altered by the dominant vision of developers. Unprecedented modification to the physical environment is taking place - perpetuating the mythical image of tropical destination as playground for the tourist. Consequently, coastal access is increasingly limited to locals, while interior spaces are manicured into Miami look-alike 'community life style' arenas, showcasing cookie cutter houses planted around man made ponds, golf courses and polo fields. The island's best resources are shaped and reserved for external gaze and privilige for those from somewhere else. In one work, I measure seven miles of Barbados’ notorious ‘gold coast,’ to learn how many feet of beach access the public has left onto the west coast. Not much.

Annalee Davis is a visual artist who creates works in video, installation, drawing and painting. Her works explore ideas about home/land, longing and belonging and expose tensions within a larger context of a post-colonial history and more recent post-independent spaces.

All are welcome to attend.

Sincerely,
Richard L. W. Clarke

Homepage: www.rlwclarke.net
PhilWeb: Theoretical Resources Off- and On-Line: www.phillwebb.net
Shibboleths: a Journal of Comparative Theory: www.shibboleths.net
Encyclopedia of Theory: www.literary-theory.net

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Canadian officials meet

Published on: 3/30/2010. Barbados Nation Newspaper


CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) and Canadian officials began a meeting here yesterday aimed at reaching a consensus on a new trade and development agreement.

The meeting comes four months after the first round of negotiations on the new accord to replace the more than 20-year-old Caribbean-Canada Trade Agreement (CARIBCAN) that was based on preferences to the Caribbean and which has since been ruled out of sync with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

An official statement said that the second round of talks would follow the completion of another session of meetings of the Technical Working Groups (TWGs).

The statement said that the talks "will also cover trade-related issues such as transparency in government procurement, and competition policy".

(CMC)

CARICOM, Canada hold trade talks

Published on: 3/30/2010. Barbados Nation Newspaper


CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) and Canadian officials began a meeting here yesterday aimed at reaching a consensus on a new trade and development agreement.

The meeting comes four months after the first round of negotiations on the new accord to replace the more than 20-year-old Caribbean-Canada Trade Agreement (CARIBCAN) that was based on preferences to the Caribbean and which has since been ruled out of sync with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

An official statement said that the second round of talks would follow the completion of another session of meetings of the Technical Working Groups (TWGs).

The statement said that the talks "will also cover trade-related issues such as transparency in government procurement, and competition policy".

(CMC)

The final Town Hall Meeting

By Barry Alleyne

Barbados' small size, large population and leadership of the regional integration and free movement of people made it imperative to produce a "sensible and sensitive" managed migration policy, Prime Minister David Thompson stressed Thursday night.

Thompson said a proposed white paper on Immigration should be completed by the end of June. After that, legislative amendments will be on the cards for sure.

Read full article here.

Rethink and come again, warns Comissiong

Published on: 3/27/2010.


THE COALITION FOR HUMANE AMNESTY, a non-Governmental organisation comprising Barbadians and a number of CARICOM nationals, has three issues with Government's proposed Managed Migration Policy.

President of the coalition, attorney David Comissiong, made this clear Thursday night, when the final town hall meeting on Government's immigration Green Paper debated the policy at the Barbados Workers' Union's Solidarity House headquarters.

Comissiong said the organisation was formed last year so CARICOM people could lobby and exert social pressure to ensure undocumented people in Barbados are treated with sensitivity and humaneness.

"We have discussed the Green Paper knowing that historically Barbados has been one of the world's leading exporters of people," Comissiong told the audience. "And we also realise that Barbados has been the leading country when it comes to regional integration," the pan-Africanist added.

Read full article here.

"Does CARICOM really want to help the Haitian people, or not?"

Published on: 3/27/2010.

by TREVOR YEARWOOD

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOs) bent on enriching themselves, CARICOM's "collapsed" presence, and aid agencies trying to outdo each other have added to the problems of the Haiti relief effort.

This complaint was made Thursday by the man United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan named his special advisor on Haiti in 2004, former Trinidadian diplomat Reginald Dumas.

Dumas told a meeting at Starcom Network Inc. on Thursday that a major problem was the fact that so many aid agencies were bent on outdoing each other, to the point where there was no co-operation - not even with the government in Port au Prince.

There was "a monumental lack of co-ordination involving assistance to Haiti", and this was despite the many meetings dealing with the relief effort, he charged.

Read full article here.

Remittances should come with the strict condition that recipients improve their lot

By Stabroek staff | March 25, 2010 in Letters

Dear Editor,

Shawn Mangru’s letter of March 23, 2010 titled “It’s time to leverage the remittances for political change” provokes serious contemplation on the remittance issue. While some may balk at Mangru’s suggestion of using remittances for political purposes there is an underlying, potent argument for using remittances to force change in Guyana on a personal level. Remittances sent to Guyana should be accompanied by strict conditions to the recipients to take active steps to improve their lot to ensure (1) they eventually would not depend on the remittances and (2) would have sufficient skills, qualifications and financial foundation to migrate from Guyana if they chose to do so thereby breaking the chain of economic reliance.

Understandably, there are cases of elderly and handicapped individuals who unequivocally need the assistance provided by remittances but for the young, able and healthy, it is an entirely different matter. Demands for self-improvement must be made crystal clear. Break the cycle of dependency. Immigrants cannot be killing themselves to fund the enjoyment of the pleasures of the world in Guyana with no investment in self-development or self-improvement. If family members wish to migrate they could improve their situation to be able to do so.

There are many apertures for Guyanese who wish to leave to improve their lives and migrate using various self-sponsorship avenues in developed countries. If they are able to collect remittances then they should be capable of taking steps to improve their lives to be able to migrate if necessary to earn a remittance to help someone else in turn make a positive change.

It is time for a serious re-visiting of how we send our hard-earned money, for our actions are not unlike the multilateral institutions giving money to our corrupt politicians who squander same away. Tough love never hurt anyone.

Boatloads Of Haitians Dock In Portland

Gareth Davis Sr, Gleaner Writer

Sixty-two Haitians, including six children, who fled their earthquake-ravaged homeland, landed in two groups in Portland yesterday, after battling five days of rugged conditions on the sea.

Describing their homeland as a place of "total devastation, without any real hope for them any time soon", the Haitians left their country last Thursday, leaving behind family members and loved ones.

"The first batch of 35 Haitians landed just in front of the Manchioneal Police Station between 4:30 a.m and 5 a.m yesterday," explained Inspector Steve Brown of the Constabulary Communication Network.

The second group, comprising 27 Haitians, landed just after 8:30 a.m. at the Winnifred Beach in Fairy Hill, Portland.

Brown said the police were mobile within five minutes of hearing of the first group's movements in Jamaican waters, because they had been on high alert since that country was hit by a powerful earthquake on January 12, which claimed the lives of more than 250,000 persons.

Read full article here.

Jamaica houses Haitians

By Stabroek staff | March 24, 2010 in Regional News


(Jamaica Gleaner) The Jamaican government is now making arrangements to house the 62 Haitians who landed in Portland by boat yesterday.

The 48 men, eight women and six children came in two separate boats from their earthquake-hit country.

The police say the first boat landed in Manchioneal around 4.30 a.m. and the other at 8.30 a.m. at the Winifred Beach.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz says health and security officials are now processing the Haitians. They will then be temporarily housed at the Salvation Army building in Port Antonio and at a Seventh Day Adventist Church.

He says the Office of Disaster Pre-paredness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) will be holding a strategy meeting to discuss the speedy processing of the Haitians and to ensure that all the agencies are collaborating on the issue.

Meanwhile, the head of the Consta-bulary Communications Network Inspector Steve Brown says security officials are on the alert to deal with any eventualities.

Concern had been raised about criminals fleeing to Jamaica after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.

Time for a new West Indian (Caribbean) Commission

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Jamaica Observer

Last week's 21st Inter-Sessional Conference of Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Governments in Dominica provided a badly needed shot in the arm for tourism in an island now solely dependent on that industry.
Before the collapse of the banana industry -- thanks to Central American action in the World Trade Organisation -- bananas used to account for 90 per cent of Dominican exports. That has fallen in GDP terms from 25 per cent in 1988 to one per cent in 2008.
That the meeting was successfully hosted is a tribute to the Government of Dominica. Apart from that success, not much else happened, in our view. The prime ministers of Belize, St Vincent, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago seemed to have known this and didn't even bother to attend. Nearly all the issues discussed were 'noted', no doubt for discussion at the next Heads get-together.

Read full article here.

Dr. Rosina Wiltshire's remarks delivered at the launch of the Gender Advocacy Programme, Guyana

09 March 2010

REMARKS DELIVERED BY DR. ROSINA WILTSHIRE, CARICOM ADVOCATE FOR GENDER JUSTICE, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE GENDER ADVOCACY PROGRAMME ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2010, 8 MARCH 2010, GEORGETOWN, GUYANA


I am honored to be appointed as the CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice. Gender is about both men and women and it is fitting that this initiative is launched on March 8th, International Day of Women. This may seem to be a contradiction, but it is not. Women have always been in the forefront of the struggle for equality, justice and peace for all. However, because of gender inequality, their contribution is often neither recognized nor remembered. How many of you present today know of the work of our own Claudia Jones? In recognition of her global contribution to the struggle for equality justice and peace, Claudia Jones is buried next to Karl Marx in London. Claudia Jones was born in Trinidad. How many of us have ever heard of her? Gender justice requires that we pay more than lip service to gender equality. My advocacy begins with a focus on eliminating violence against women.

Read full article here.

Haiti Takes A Pass On Caricom Chair, Jamaica Steps In

Published: Thursday | March 18, 20100 Jamaica GLeaner

Jamaica will assume the chairmanship of Caricom in July, instead of Haiti, a decision that the Conference of Heads of Government has endorsed.

Haiti was next in line for the rotating chair but president Rene Preval feels his country would be unable to fulfil its regional obligations, as recovery and reconstruction work gathers steam in the earthquake-struck capital Port-au-Prince.

Already an estimated US$2.2 billion of aid has been committed to Haiti for rescue and recovery since the 7.2-magnitude quake of January 12 that claimed more than 230,000 lives, and displaced about 1.5 million city residents.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said Wednesday that a donor conference on March 31 would further assess Haiti's future needs.

The Washington-based bank also said it would continue the US$700 million of IDB projects that were on the ground there prior to the disaster, and that its board of governors were also discussing plans to pour another US$2 billion into the country over the next decade.

Preval advised Caricom of his decision not to assume the chair of Caricom ahead of the bloc's 21st intersessional meeting held March 11-12 in Dominica, which currently holds the chair.

Jamaica's Bruce Golding was one of the first Caricom heads to send assistance to Haiti, including soldiers. The country's ports were also offered as transit point for aid.

Haiti is one of 15 Caricom members. It is also the poorest and most populous, with about nine million people, more than three times the population of Jamaica, which is the second largest market with 2.7 million.

business@gleanerjm.com

Opposition wants leaders to blank Caricom Summit

GAIL ALEXANDER
Published: 18 Mar 2010 Trinidad and Tobago Guardian

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has advised Caricom leaders not to attend an “unscheduled extra-ordinary” Caricom Summit which she said Government wants to host in T&T within the next few weeks. In a statement yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she understood T&T undertook to carry the financial burden of all costs of bringing Caricom leaders here for the summit, inclusive of airfare and accommodation.
Calling for citizens to be told of the costs, Persad-Bissessar said Prime Minister Patrick Manning was attempting to create a distraction from controversial issues facing Government such as Udecott and the Guanapo church. Persad-Bissessar said T&T’s Opposition was calling on regional leaders to refuse participation in this sham. She added: “It is a feeble attempt by Mr Manning to move the national conversation away from corruption allegations and ineptitude of his administration.
“We wish to advise honourable heads of Caricom that the people of T&T will view their participation in this shameful exercise at the expense of taxpayers’ dollars here as a contribution to Manning’s squandering of our precious resources, especially at a time when our nation is reeling under the pressure of so many urgent social needs.”
Persad-Bissessar added: “Should the Manning administration proceed with this circus of extravaganza at the people’s expense, we propose to alert all political groups, civic organisations and special interest groups to join in protest against the hosting of this wasteful expression of arrogance and contempt for the people. (GA)

UWI to offer places to 200 Haitian students

Julien Neaves jneaves@trinidadexpress.com
Wednesday, March 17th 2010

UNIVERSITY of the West Indies Vice Chancellor E. Nigel Harris says UWI will be offering places to Haitian students as part of efforts to assist the tertiary education sector in Haiti, following the devastating January 12 earthquake there.

UWI St Augustine Campus Principal, Prof Clement Sankat, on Monday told the media that about 75 students may be accommodated at the Trinidad campus and the Mona campus in Jamaica had agreed to accommodate 100 students. He noted, however, that the final figures were still to be confirmed.

Harris said that while UWI may accommodate 200 students, there were thousands of Haitians who needed to be educated and they will be exploring the provision of online education and distance learning.

He was speaking at the Association of Universities and Research Institutes of the Caribbean (UNICA) annual general meeting and conference, entitled ’Partnership for Sustainable Development: A Call to Action for Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes to Partner with Haiti for the Rebuilding of its Tertiary Sector’, at UWI, St Augustine.

Dr Jocelyne Trouillot, rector of Université Caraibe, Haiti, speaking through a translator, welcomed the idea of distance learning to assist the sector. She reported that Haitian universities are generally concentrated in the capital Port-au-Prince and they recorded 90 per cent destruction from the earthquake.

She said at her university, the bodies of some students still had not been recovered from the rubble and many teachers and professors were either killed or are unaccounted for. She said, however, that Haiti was ’a nation of fighters’ and there was now the opportunity to make tertiary education a priority and improve the system which was disorganised.

Trouillot noted that priority should be placed on assisting students about to finish their studies. She said although universities in Europe and the US had offered places for students, it had to be done in an orderly manner.

Professorial research fellow at UWI’s Graduate Institute of International Relations, Prof Norman Girvan, said a reform of the Haitian education system and establishment of a full ministry of education were necessary, saying rebuilding the tertiary education sector was required for the country’s sustainability.

He noted that the assistance would require a sustained commitment of between five and ten years.

You, Me & CSME - A kingdom divided

Published on: 3/16/2010.

BY MICHELLE CAVE

BEING REARED in multiple countries, I am hardly reticent to admit that I've always been fascinated with identity. How people act in groups that they feel kinship to.

When and why people identify with one group over another. Identity politics . . . how people respond in predictable ways depending on the particular nation state, community they might have found themselves belonging to or hailing from.

It then was not a far distance I had to travel, when asked to write a paper on the making of a national identity: a Caribbean possibility.

Read full article here.

The Value of Remittances to CARICOM

Holding on to the ties that bind

Published on: 3/16/2010.

REMITTANCES, an essential financial lifeline for families throughout the Caribbean, have suffered significantly in the past year, falling by at least 11 per cent or even more in some countries.

The flow of money to nations throughout the region, indeed in almost every case in the Caribbean and Latin America, has been hurt by the deep economic recession in the United States, Canada and Britain.

Anyone searching for proof of the pitfalls of globalisation, remittances would be a good place to start.

The high unemployment across the United States has reduced the earning power of Caribbean immigrants and that reduced financial strength means people at home are getting less. It's a vicious circle that shows little signs of easing up this year.

Read full article here.

Crime, violence No.1 concern for CARICOM youth

Published on: 3/16/2010.

CRIME AND VIOLENCE have been identified as the No.1 concern among adolescents and youth in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), according to a report from the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development.

This matter was associated with poverty, unemployment, politics and social inequities.

The commission, which was co-chaired by Jamaican academic Professor Barry Chevannes and Suriname's Yildiz Beighle, has been conducting research on youth in Caribbean with the view of presenting recommendations on advancing youth development in the region since March 2007.

"Constant exposure to crime and violence leads to emotional blunting, high stress, grief and a sense of loss," the report read.

The report stated that young people across the region spoke of fear, perceptions of lack of safety and concern for their general well-being as a result of the increased crime and violence. It also stated that violence caused among youth self-imposed curfews, diminished participation in community activities, restriction of night-time activities and changes in social practices.

The report stated that among males aged 15-24, homicides at 19.8 per cent was the leading cause of death, followed by HIV/AIDS, 13.6 per cent, and motor vehicle accidents at 9.2 per cent.

Health and well-being was also listed as another issue. Youths were concerned about the limited access to hospitals/clinics, medical personnel and health care, particularly for HIV/AIDS.

The report also said long waiting periods in emergency rooms and lack of confidentiality were issues young people complained about.

The document also found that youth policies across the region were weak, outdated and rarely implemented, and called for CARICOM to invest more in youth.

The report also recommended that CARICOM member states deepen the democratic culture by including youth in the processes. Specifically, the report called for a democratically elected youth representative entity to be established so that it can become the central national institutional body for development.

(Jamaica Gleaner)

Barbadian Rosina Wiltshire is first CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice 2010

Dr. Rosina Wilthshire with Peggy Antrobuus

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Barbadian Rosina Wiltshire has been appointed the First Caribbean Community Advocate for Gender Justice for the year 2010.

As part of her terms of reference, Dr. Rosina Wiltshire will be required to coordinate the research on Gender Based Violence (GBV) within the Caribbean Region and raise awareness of the need for further action to develop and strengthen integrated responses that will “address all social and legal sectors for the purposes of protection, provision of services; justice; and prevention.”

The establishment of an Office of the Special Advocate against GBV underpins the strategy to reduce the high incidence of violence against women in the Caribbean.

Funded under the CARICOM/Spain Cooperation Agreement, the two-year project seeks to develop a more coordinated and integrated approach to reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the CARICOM region.

With more than 25 years of postgraduate teaching, research and evaluation, Dr Wiltshire has garnered a wealth of experience in Gender and Development - complemented by a range of requisite skills in leadership and development, advocacy and team building, strategic planning, resource mobilisation, donor coordination and media management - which make her an ideal person to assume the responsibility of Special Advocate.

In addition, Dr Wiltshire has further honed her skills and applied her experience at the national, regional and international levels: She served for 14 years in various capacities at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), most recently as the UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the OECS Prior to this, Dr Wiltshire worked as the Coordinator for gender and sustainable development at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

A prolific writer, Dr Wiltshire has published in the areas of Foreign Policy, Caribbean Regional Integration, Migration and Development, Social Dimensions of Structural Adjustment, Gender and Development and Women, Environment and Development.

Her skills and professional experience are underpinned by a brilliant scholastic profile, including her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

As Special Advocate, Dr Wiltshire will also propose specific recommendations aimed at enhancing Member States’ compliance with their international and regional priority obligations of equality and non-discrimination. As such, the Advocate will be expected to influence policy development on GBV in the Caribbean through advocacy and knowledge provision.

On Monday, March 8, which is observed globally as International Women’s Day, Dr Wiltshire will be introduced to the regional media at a press conference at the CARICOM Secretariat where she will make her first presentation as the CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org

Communique Issued at 21st Inter-Sessional CARICOM meeting in Dominica

Extensive discussions took place on the situation in Haiti with President Préval, the CARICOM Special Representative on Haiti, Most Honourable P. J. Patterson, as well as with the Presidents of the World Bank, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank.

In his interface with his colleagues, His Excellency René Préval President of Haiti made a presentation to the Conference on the historic context of the disaster, which befell his country on 12 January 2010. He underlined how the past helped to explain the present-day handicaps – weak institutional capacity, poverty - that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster.

The President also expressed the view that the international community needed to draw the proper lessons from this humanitarian crisis and called for the establishment by the United Nations of a civilian force that would respond to such crises. The Conference agreed to support this call.

In his vision of a new Haiti, the President placed emphasis on decentralization, the establishment of development poles provided with proper infrastructure and basic public services which could facilitate the creation of jobs as well as the redesigning of the devastated capital. He underscored the necessity for pledges for Haiti’s reconstruction to be informed by the vision of the Government of Haiti.

Read full article here.

Thompson calls on CARICOM countries to become members of the CCJ

Get with it!

Published on: 3/13/2010. The Nation Newspaper

ROSEAU, Dominica - Prime Minister David Thompson yesterday called on all Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to ensure that they are full members of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region's final court.

Thompson, who is attending the CARICOM inter-sessional summit, told reporters that it was necessary for regional countries "to get with it" since their reluctance to join the CCJ could weaken the efforts towards establishing the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

"It is clear that it has set it back in the sense that obviously grappling with domestic challenges means that we will not have the space, either the fiscal space or the time to devote to some of the policy initiatives that would see the progress in relation to the single economy," Thompson said, adding that "even our private sectors, which are very much part of the development of the single economy, are battling with big challenges.

"The irony of that is that we still have to be prepared or preparing for the post-recession period, and to that extent we have produced in Barbados a medium-term development strategy, which does to some extent depend on us meeting obligations to the Single Economy," he said, adding that he would make that document available to his regional counterparts."

Only Barbados and Guyana are members of both the appellate and original jurisdictions of the CCJ that also acts as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which governs the regional integration movement.

"It is not enough in terms of sheer numbers; neither is it enough psychologically to give confidence to citizens that the CCJ is a viable entity and, therefore, much more needs to be done

"It weakens the CCJ when the country that is the headquarters of the CCJ, Trinidad and Tobago, is not a country that has acceded to the CCJ. So it is just one of those areas in which people see a yawning gap between the promise of unity and performance and as long as that is not resolved it will pose major difficulties for us," Thompson told reporters.

He said CARICOM countries needed to take full charge of their future destination and join other former Commonwealth countries that have broken ties with the Privy Council.

"This is the year 2010 and if we have any faith in ourselves then we need to get cracking on ensuring that all our countries are subject to the jurisdiction of the CCJ and let us not act as if somebody else can interpret our constitutions and everyday life situations better than we can.

"It is a sad indictment on the region," he told reporters. (CMC)

The US government uses unmanned drones to patrol the border

Click here to see Ed Lavandera report on the use of Drones by the US Border Patrol.

CARICOM in the hemisphere

In our editorial last week on ‘The OAS in the hemisphere,’ we observed that our Caricom states, in attending the Mexico conference that established the new Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CALC), had given little notice beforehand that they were committed to this Mexican initiative. In the aftermath of the announcement, some Caricom governments, and in particular the head of government holding the chairmanship of our community, were quick to reassure us that the new institution was in no way to be seen as competitive with, or even intended to replace, the Organisation of American States. Rather, it was pointed out that this was not to be seen as in any way different from the situation of member states who had joined other Latin American groupings, for example UNASUR, or the Rio Group which is in fact supposed to be seen as a predecessor organization to the new community. And in similar fashion, it was argued, Caricom states’ adherence to CALC which excluded the United States and Canada was in no way to be seen as an indication or display of antagonism to that country.

Read full article here.

Ministry moves to stem illegal migration

Miranda La Rose

Wednesday, March 10th 2010



The Ministry of National Security does not view the ’growing trend’ in the number of illegal immigrants detained in the country over the past five years ’as an uncontrollable influx,’ Minister of National Security said.

Of 2,992 illegal immigrants detained 2,742 were deported as of December 31, 2009.

In response to a question Senator Mark Wade asked in the Senate yesterday, Minister of National Security Martin Joseph said that the ministry noted the trend recorded by the Immigration Department and has implemented a number of initiatives to stem illegal migration. These include the restructuring and strengthening of the Immigration Department’s investigation unit, enhanced training programmes, and strengthening the country’s border management systems.

The investigations unit, he said, has nine officers-three immigration officers and six police officers from the Criminal Investigations Department. There is no investigations unit in Tobago. The immigration officer in charge of passports spearheads all investigations relating to illegal immigrants there.

Joseph said it is proposed that the Immigration Department investigative arm be substantially increased to include an investigation unit of 47 officers, enforcement unit, intelligence unit, documents lab, and the recently established detention centre at Aripo, Arima.

It is also proposed that the Tobago Immigration Department be given a dedicated investigations unit. Implementation of the proposals being pursued, he said, are dependent on available human resource.

Training of immigration officers has been strengthened to better equip them to deal with illegal immigrants.

The Ministry of National Security is also moving to strengthen its border management by strengthening the maritime fleet of the Coast Guard, which recently acquired six fast patrol craft. It is also due to acquire the first of three offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) by the end of July. In the interim, two vessels were acquired by the Coast Guard to bolster its fleet while the OPVs are under construction.

The Great Immigration Hoax

In this era of recession, economic contraction and deflation, what the Barbados economy most desperately needs is a concrete and practical strategy for economic growth. And it is clear that the most likely arena in which Barbados can pursue such a growth strategy is in relation to the pan-Caribbean market and economy. Yet, this is precisely the time that the myopic Government of Barbados has chosen to turn its back on the Caribbean, to engage in an anti-CARICOM immigration policy, and to evict hundreds of hard working and productive workers and consumers from Barbados!

At present, the Immigration Department of Barbados is pursuing the most rigid and heartless policy against undocumented CARICOM migrants, and is routinely rejecting the applications of virtually all CARICOM migrants who have applied for Immigrant Status.

Just last year, the Prime Minister gave undocumented CARICOM migrants who came to Barbados after the 1st of January 1998, the assurance that if they filed applications for Immigrant Status that they would be treated fairly and every application would be judged on its individual merit.

Well, it is said that "a promise is a comfort to a fool", and our Immigration Department is in the process of turning the hundreds of CARICOM citizens who took the Prime Minister at his word into fools. The harsh reality is that the applications are not being judged on merit, and that the Immigration Department is simply rejecting the applications out of hand.

This is resulting in persons who have been living in Barbados for as long as eleven years, and who are gainfully employed and have children who were born in Barbados, being ordered to pack up their children and leave this country! How any of this is helping Barbados only God knows!

It seems as though the members of the present Administration have some-how gotten it into their heads that they can alleviate Barbados’ economic woes by expelling the so-called undocumented Caribbean "foreigners" among us. They seem to believe that the best way to solve the unemployment problem and to deal with the fiscal dilemma is to evict Caribbean "foreigners" who work in Barbados and access education, health care and housing.

Indeed, they seem to be so enamoured of this anti-CARICOM migrant strategy that they have even drawn up a "Green Paper" on Immigration Reform, in which they are proposing to alter the Barbados Constitution in order to deny citizenship to the children of certain categories of migrants who are born in Barbados, and to the spouses of native born Barbadians.

All of this constitutes a foolish and unintellectual approach to economic management, and a tragic repudiation of Barbados’ shining and unrivalled reputation as a leader in the Caribbean integration movement

Economic development is not a ‘zero sum game’ in which in order for one person to gain a job, another person must necessarily lose a job! Indeed, the typical scenario is that migrants enter the work force and help to grow the economy, to increase the ‘Gross Domestic Product’, and to play a catalytic role in the multiplication of job opportunities.

It is not surprising therefore that the period of the greatest influx of CARICOM migrants to Barbados was the period of Barbados’ most robust economic growth, and the era in which unemployment sunk to its lowest level in the history of Barbados.

It is not surprising either that with the continuing departure of hundreds of CARICOM migrants that a large number of Barbadian shops, small supermarkets, landlords and private schools are beginning to feel the pinch and have started to suffer from a significant loss of business.

Simply put, our anti-CARICOM migrant policy is causing a further contraction or deflation in the Barbados economy, at a time when what we desperately need are anti-deflation, pro-growth policies! Thus, the Government is going in the wrong direction, and is doing far more harm than good to the Barbadian economy and society

Our anti-CARICOM immigration policies are also going to make it much more difficult for Barbados to reach out to and engage with other Caribbean countries in a pro-growth regional economic strategy from which Barbados will derive the lion’s share of benefits.

As our government continues to paint Barbados into a small, isolated anti-CARICOM corner, the government of Trinidad & Tobago continues to reach out to its Eastern Caribbean neighbours, and to pursue a pro-Caribbean migrant strategy that may eventually lead to a lock in of the Eastern Caribbean economies with Trinidad & Tobago. Barbados could very well find itself on the outside looking in.

Truly, where there is no vision the people perish!

DAVID A. COMISSIONG

United States Congressman Charles Rangel's fall is a significant loss for CARICOM

by TONY BEST

"CARIBBEAN NATIONS, including Barbados, may be losing a reliable friend on Capitol Hill. What a pity!"

A former Caribbean ambassador in Washington was referring to United States Congressman Charles Rangel, who on Wednesday morning asked Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to relieve him for the time being of the chairmanship of the chamber's powerful Ways and Means Committee.

"He has been there for the Caribbean for decades, always willing to stand up and represent its interests," said the former diplomat.

Rangel's decision to step down from the much coveted position followed last week's ruling by the House Ethics Committee that he broke the chamber's rules by accepting two trips to the Caribbean Multinational Business Conference in Antigua and Barbuda in 2007 and 2008.

Read full article here.

Caribbean community needs to express solidarity against bullying tactics of the USA

by RICKEY SINGH

THE CURRENT ESCALATING ROW between Jamaica and the United States over Washington's demand that the Bruce Golding administration extradite a well known controversial Jamaican drug lord, should be carefully monitored by other governments of the Caribbean Community to ensure appropriate solidarity is against reported bullying tactics by superpower America.

In a sense, the explosion of the bitter extradition row resulting from Jamaica's refusal to extradite the influential drug "kingpin" Christopher "Dudus" Coke of Tivoli Gardens - a known political stronghold of Golding's governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) - is a classic case of déjà vu in relations between Washington and Kingston under different administrations.

Read full article here.

Should the Caribbean look to the UK Campaign - 'Strangers into Citizens'

In the Saturday 27th February 2010 issue of the Guardian Weekend Edition, Polly Toynbee spoke about the UK's borders being porous and questioned why politicians can't admit to that fact. She closed her article by referring to the UK Campaign "Strangers into Citizens'. This campaign is advocating for an 'earned' amnesty for undocumented migrants after five years. She writes "If two years after emerging to register they are in work and speak English, they would earn citizenship and pay tax.'

To learn more about Strangers into Citizens, look here.

Court challenge has implications for all Caribbean people

By Alissa Trotz

Alissa Trotz is editor of the In the Diaspora Column

On February 19th a motion was filed in Guyana’s high court to challenge a law that criminalized cross-dressing, and under which seven persons were arrested in 2009 and charged with wearing female attire. Four – Quincy McEwan, Seon Clarke, Joseph Fraser and Seyon Persaud – have brought the constitutional challenge, with the support of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) and a group of lawyers, including from the recently established University of the West Indies Rights Advocate Project (U-RAP). Sunday’s Trinidad Express cites local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocates who say this case will have far-reaching effects region-wide. It brings to mind what nearly came to pass in St. Vincent last year, where attempts at constitutional reform would have enshrined individual freedoms and social justice for all, while at the same time outlawing gay marriage.

Read full article here.