Jamaican journalist expelled from Grenada??
16 02 2008When I read this article I had to laugh:
Now let me just say that this is why I truly believe the CSME is a very serious joke! Under the CSME professionals are supposed to be able to move around from island to island without let or hindrance. I should be able to take up a job offer anywhere in the 15 member states without this type of thing happening. But this is not to be in Grenada. Now let me say that I believe that the average Jamaican has no use for the CSME or its principles. Why? Because when a Jamaican says they “gawn a foreign” it isn’t south of Jamaica for the most part. I have travelled to several Caribbean islands south/east of Jamaica and once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I have never given it a serious thought to pack my grip and head to anywhere like Grenada, so why treat the woman like this? To start with she is a professional and to finish, I doubt highly she was looking to set up house down there. And to show you how a simple error could cost you a criminal record, there was the misreading of the “get out of here” date. She read it as August 2, 2008 while the immigration officer meant 8th February, 2008. Oh how funny that is! But alas, it seems that one has to get some certificate to prove that they are a “skilled worker” and deserving of being on other Caribbean soil on legitimate business. Well BOO to you Grenada! I have never been to you and I certainly won’t be seeking work on your shores! Also, the type of Jamaicans that they seem to want to attract are more interested in the North American lifestyle….we left country a long time ago!
Well, if we must be honest, part of the reason for the brouhaha over this journalist was that she is here working with a Grenadian publication that is not particularly “kind” to the present government. Need I say more?
[...] Original post by jamaicangirl2007 [...]
Sounds very political to me. Someone doesn’t want an outsider snooping around during election season….. just in case
This is big time foolishness, absurdity,ineptitude, and bunk being promulgated by Grenada in its deportation of Jamaican Journalist Ms. Tanesha Thomas.The Grenada Immigration Department bungled the departure date in Ms.Thomas’ passport and for their incompetence, blunder and bungling Ms. Thomas is expelled from a country that is a member of the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME) of which Jamaica is a major player and a signatory member. What the hell is happening here? Isn’t something definitely wrong with this picture? Rational minds would have thought that because of what transpired with Ms. Thomas’ departure date, that there would have been at least some modicum of attempt on the part of Grenada to facilitate and accomodate Ms. Thomas in terms of a grace period or extended stay.Apparently,there must be much more to this story .Certainly,it cannot be an issue about/regarding departure dates from Grenada. Foreigners and tourists violate and abuse such dates on a daily basis in Grenada. Are there problems with Ms. Thomas’ company CARIBUPDATE and the extant Grenadian government? Is this an attempt at cenorship, by expelling a foreign journalist? Also,will the CSME sit on its laurels and be indifferent to a Jamaican female professional meted out this type of inane treatment? Jamaica’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs should also be asking questions regardiing Grenada’s behaviour and treatment of Ms. Thomas.Additionaly,the regional association of Caribbean journalists need to explore this matter in greater detail, specifically, with respect to the germs of censorship and freedom of the press.Indeed,Grenada’s behavior suggest that there is much more to this problem than what is lurking at the surface.Is CARIBUPDATE, Ms. Thomas’ employer creating anxieties and possible waves with respect to the elections which could result in such a extremely drastic action towards Ms.Thomas by the Grenadian state.Answers are definitely needed and required, in the interim, Ms. Thomas, your professional skills can definitely be utilized elsewhere and certainly are not limited to backwater outposts,the likes of Grenada.
Well you know…this is why I beleive that the CSME is a joke and irrelevant to Jamaicans….I mean seriously…which Jamaican do we know of who would really try to migrate to Grenada illegally? They are just so full of themselves it isn’t even funny!
Well Raqs I beleive that it is truly a silly situation! Grenada? The only thing I want from Grenada is some nice Nutmeg Jam…but other than that….not a thing!
In every arrangement there will be disputes and where there are disputes, there are mechanisms to settle the disputes. To say CSME is a joke is to show a level of ignorance of this basic fact. She has access to the CCJ to settle her dispute and seek redress, but you have to educate yourself about it first and not just say by knee jerk reaction that you are against the CCJ. I am Trinidadian (which by my last check of geography is South) and there are MANY MANY Jamaicans who have moved here just as there are many Trinidadians in Jamaica. Insularity when we each have our own little pieces of rock is foolish- especially when most are doing badly economically. Do you really think that North America and England are opening their arms to us? Check the recent visa requirements and now deposit for visas that UK have imposed on Jamaica.
I am fed up of this foolish big island-small island emotion and ignorance. To North America and Europe, we are ALL equally small islands. We have to join and work together or fail totally. If Grenada is doing stupidness, we have to tell them so and take it to OUR court. Mamma Queen and Uncle Sam don’t care about us and may not even let the journalist land! Get real!
BTW, Pappa Privy Council don’t care about us either. They only want to protect the British business interests in the Caribbean. That’s why they don’t want to let go of us. Stop parroting nonsense and THINK, my Caribbean people. We all come on the same ship, from the same place- brought here by the same people at whose feet we still want to grovel.
I don’t know if there is some misunderstanding here, but nowhere in my commentary did I say the CCJ is irrelevant. I said the CSME is irrelevant to the average Jamaican. Let me see if I can be clearer. As a professional, I should be able to take the next flight out to any island who subscribes to the CSME, look for work tonight and start tomorrow, without having to go through the bureaucracy of a work permit etc. This is clearly not the case and let me just say that if I have to get a skills certificate, that’s just too much work for me so I may as well stay here. What I mean by saying that the CSME is irrelevant to the average Jamaican is this. Ask any Jamaican which countries come to mind when they are thinking of migration. I don’t hear anyone saying the Caribbean (outside of Bahamas, Cayman, T and C, Bermuda or any other British territory). Yes you may have many Jamaicans down there but remember that Jamaica is a country of 2.5 million people, with a matching figure in the Diaspora. For every Jamaican you have in Trinidad, there are 20 of them in the core.
You mention that North America and England aren’t welcoming Jamaicans with open arms but on the contrary, THEY ARE. You speak of a visitors visa, while I am speaking of permanent migration. Canada, US and England have the “skilled worker” programme, opening up their arms to Caribbean professionals (like the other professionals globally), and believe me, they are answering, hence the “brain drain” has become problematic for Caribbean economies. I honestly do not hear the average middle class, university educated Jamaican clamouring to see what is happening in the region, unless they are married to a national from another island. My personal view, having travelled to several islands in the region, is that I have no desire to remove myself from Jamaica, crime, bad economy and all, to another Caribbean territory. Some of the every day conveniences which we have grown accustomed to here cannot be had in most other islands and I just don’t have it in me to give them up. That is just my singular view. I just don’t know of anyone who is going to Grenada to violate any immigration law….on another note, Jamaicans are not into “damage it now, fix it later”. They need to fix the damn system in the first place so that people wouldnt have to go through that. What’s cheaper? Going to the “Court of Caribbean Justice” or fixing the thing in the first place!??
I am sorry, I cannot say MY people in reference to the wider Caribbean, because I have never ever felt connected to the Caribbean and many of us here in Jamaica probably feel the same way…I don’t know….but anyway, when one has a relative living abroad, 8 to 2 chances that relative is in the core, not the periphery. Just a personal view.
…and when i say “Court of Caribbean Justice” it’s tongue in cheek
I can’t help it if you do not feel like a Caribbean person. I do to my very soul and with every ounce of my being. I feel at home and welcomed in each Caribbean country that I visit. I guess this is where we differ. Of course I like the conveniences and standard of living I enjoy in Trinidad and Tobago but I do not hesitate to help the public sectors of my Caribbean brothers (including Jamaica) to achieve.
Everything takes work and while it is fine to say “fix the damn system in the first place so that people wouldn’t have to go through that” that can only be possible if people were prepared initially to feel welcoming to their Caribbean brothers and sisters. The skills certificate was the method put in place because the same Caribbean people who do not want Americans to have the “trouble’ of getting a passport or God forbid, a visa, did not want people from other Caribbean countries coming into their countries to live. So, the skills certificate was born. ONce you have that mechanism there will be disputes and the dispute mechanism is the original jurisdiction of the CCJ.
Sure you can quarrell and rant, but also go to the dispute resolution mechanism so that it can be fixed not only in this case, but in others which may threaten to occur in the future. That is why I mentioned the CCJ!
Do you really think that Jamaicans are being welcomed by UK, US and Canada with open arms? Have you looked recently at how the quota system has been changed in the US and where Jamaica now stands compared to say, India (in a relative ratio). Further, the UK “skilled worker” system and the US skills quota do not include many skills which CSME provides for.
Why do we Caribbean people dislike our own so? Too many of our Caribbean people would rather drive a bus in the cold UK than work to fix our own place. We boast of teaching in England, but short-change our own children when we sign on to teach them. We will work at two or three jobs in the US but grumble about doing one in our own place. We quickly pay up all our US taxes, but avoid paying in our own place. We poopy scoop in the US, but litter our own place.
Also, we can love up foreign, without stamping on our fellow Caribbean countries or on ourselves.
I lived abroad for a long time. I am a professional. I came home.
We have to love our Caribbean first and work to make it better.
If as you say, you “have never felt connected to the Caribbean and many Jamaicans probably feel the same way”, then I can’t see that that is something to feel proud about. It speaks about an ignorance among Jamaicans about the Caribbean. I studied at UWI and learned about the entire Caribbean and now boast friends in every Caribbean island. I feel good about that. Do you as a Jamaican feel good about not feeling connected to the Caribbean? Do you feel better about feeling connected to the US or the UK or Canada? If so, then maybe there’s nothing we can do. Maybe you should seek US statehood and jettison CSME and any Caribbean ties or maybe you should just stand alone.
But sorry, none of us can make it alone; not even Trinidad and Tobago with our oil wealth. I am proudly a Caribbean person.
Great for you! I am hoping some Jamaicans will read this and understand both views. I am sorry but I am not one of those people who will be going to the US, UK or Canada to drive a bus or taxi or run a jerk chicken stand. I certainly qualify for more than that as a professional myself. I say this to say that this is not the type of Jamaican you are speaking to. Also, I am a graduate of UWI and I boast many friends in different islands, but that doesn’t mean I have to force myself to be as Caribbean as possible. Does it? Funny enough I am looking at Caribbean Migration for my Masters thesis and on the contrary, Jamaican professionals ar answering the call from the north. Most of my school friends don’t even live here anymore….and when they were thinking of migrating, Grenada was not anywhere visible on their list. Needless to say they have made great strides overseas, owning property in no time and have great jobs….and they don’t sell drugs…they all have at least 2 degrees. So what I am saying again ma’am is that the average Jamaican can’t even fathom the rest of the Caribbean. It’s easier and cheaper to hop on a flight to Florida than it is to say Antigua……I have been to the region because of work related issues etc, but never to say that I am going to now pack my suitcase and head to anywhere below us to live or overstay my time. If you ask 5 Jamaicans where they have travelled to, I assure you that the Caribbean isn’t in their dialogue at all. But it’s not a crime. You can’t kill us for being disinterested? I have no interest in moving to any Caribbean territory. I must also say that if a Jamaican doesn’t feel connected to the Caribbean, can you blame them? Look at where Jamaica is geographically…..the only islands i know that has serious connections with Jamaica are the Cayman Islands and that is only because they were once governed as a parish of Jamaica, attached to Trelawny, before we became independent. 1/2 the people over there are descendants of Jamaicans. Why don’t you have issue with the Bahamas or Cayman Islands feeling Caribbean….because I can assure you, they are as Caribbean as Apple Pie!
Another thing…..the skills certificate is of no interest to me. I have no desire to apply for it at all. I can take my skills and knowledge elsewhere thank you.
I do see both points of view emerging very clearly here. I agree that there are many Jamaicans overseas that are doing quite well, some that struggle, and others that are right in the middle…as will any other diaspora. We can’t treat our Caribbean people like this though Grenada. Y’all really could’ve done better than that.
I still agree with you Louise that finding common ground within the Caribbean nations is not only a tall order of importance, but it seems as if the resistance is very much predicated on emotional history as much as actual transgressions of the past. This particular incident has illustrated past feelings of mistrust that tied to a sense of a lack of belonging to the Caribbean. My uncle works for UWI - Trinidad and I have a ton of family down there. He’s been there for what seems like forever (more than my lifetime) and he doesn’t have a Jamaican accent anymore. We tease him about it, but alas, it is a beautiful thing when you can have such a mixture of beautiful Caribbean people all in one family. We must not forget that just like any family, there will be lots of issues to deal with, but we can’t forget what makes people of the Caribbean special and different from anywhere else in the world….Similarly, we Jamaicans will always have a proud and rich affinity for our own identity and we will never apologize for it.
Geographically, Jamaica-Bahamas-Cayman have always been disconnected from the Eastern Caribbean. I even think that the fact that we have “Greater & Lesser Antilles” has some kind of subconscious effect on our psyches which can also cause issues like this to really become more inflammatory than it needs to be. (It might be nothing, but still think about it) Jamaicans are very skilled and we have a bent for leadership that can really alienate others sometimes. I go through it living here in the US. People get offended by my strength, my Jamaican pride, and my sheer determination. However, they have no connection to me and I brush it off. I suggest that within the Caribbean, we try to not have the same kind of discourse with each other.
Now, my suggestion is for Jamaica not to take this issue and make it such a regional issue. Grenada did drop the ball and they were wrong for handling the journalist the way they did. However, making this a federal case only reinforces the preconditions that were always there from before for whatever reasons we tend not to have affinity for each other as Caribbean people.
I’m sorry, but as a Jamaican analyzing the economic situations that we are facing, I don’t feel very strongly about making this incident a bigger issue than it needs to be because I really would want to focus on finding a way to get our GDP back in the positive and somehow finding a way to work with other Caribbean countries to regain some economic control for our resources (human & non-human). We can only do it with each other, because as it stands right now, we can’t go it alone in these conditions. We need to unite and get past some things for real.
Grenada has decided to extend the stay of Ms. Thomas until her assignment is completed. Good move !!
Good for her….but personally I would have left! What’s Grenada to me? There is absolutely nothing that could keep me there!
Interesting post this. Let me weigh in on it though its now probably a dead issue. I think the real issue behind our Jamaican journalist being mistreated is that she was seen as a threat, because she was working for a publication which was not government friendly. I don’t think she was being unfairly treated just because she was Jamaican. If she were from T&T or Antigua, maybe she would have had a similar experience. Lets not get too excited about it, we in Jamaica have treated other Caribbean nationals unfairly as well in the past.
I find myself agreeing with the Trini lady a lot in the argument above. Yes, many Jamaicans don’t feel connected with the rest of the Caribbean, and they don’t particularly want to go to the other islands to visit or to work. This is sad, in my view.
There are reasons for this, however. I think the biggest reason for this is the distances between our countries, and the fact that we don’t have too many people from the islands in Jamaica.
Because we have little interaction with our Caribbean neighbours, we tend not ot be aware of each other, or to care too much about each other. Why, I didn’t feel like a Caribbean person at all either, until I went to UWI. That is probably where we have the biggest congregation of Caribbean nationals all in one place in Jamaica, and it served to raise my consciousness of the rest of the Caribbean.
Since I talk about distance, one might say “Why then is Jamaica not closely connected to Cuba and to Haiti? They are close by.”. They are close, but then there is the language barrier.
Still, we are all people who have similar histories. What is our connection with the US / UK? Why do we feel so connected there, why do we think of them as places to which we would migrate more than to other islands?
The reasons are economic, but also, because of their cultural dominance/imperialism. They put their information out there for the whole world to consume and so we do, and so we come to know more about them than about other people with similar histories to ours, people with the same issues we have and who have more reason to work with us in an effort to better our own lots.
That is sad. At least, I think so.
One more point I’d like to raise: I’d guess that there are a lot of people from those other islands “south” of Jamaica who don’t want to go to Jamaica to visit or work either. In fact, if you check it out, we don’t have too many people from other countries in Jamaica at all.
If you think we do have a lot of foreigners living in Jamaica, you need to come to Cayman to see what being cosmopolitan is all about. We have scarcely any foreigners in Jamaica, compared to here. We need to ask ourselves why that is. We have so many more resources and natural advantages, we should have foreigners beating down our doors to come live and work there.
Why isn’t that the case? Perhaps we have some things we need to work upon.