The minister with responsibility for foreign affairs and foreign trade, AJ Nicholson continues to express the view that Caricom is good for Jamaica despite all that is currently place to Jamaican Nationals when they attempt to enter other caricom countries.
AJ Nicholson in response to an appeal for Jamaica to take action against Trinidad say our hands are tied by Caricom agreements, but Trinidad hands seem to be untied as they continue to do as they please both in terms of goods entering T&T and Jamaican Nationals.
We read to today of Jamaican nationals being locked up for long periods of time and the Jamaica High Commission in Trinidad seems to be totally asleep on the job and one has to wonder why on earth are we maintaining an office there if it continues to fail to look after the interest of Jamaicans.
AJ Nicholson has not done a damn thing since being in office to stop the mistreatment of Jamaican Nationals in Caricom member states and continue to refuse to take action against those states that violate sections of the trade agreement as well as the free movement of people.
On assuming office AJ said one of his main priorities was to ensure Jamaica’s credibility has been restored on the international scene, but he has been nothing but an abject failure on every count and in every aspect of his job.
I am therefore calling on the Prime Minister to sack AJ Nicholson for his continued failure to protect the interest of Jamaica particularly as it relates to Caricom.
AJ must pack his bags and go now !
Where is the voice of Andrew Holness on this matter, doesn’t his recent mandate allow him to speak on this matter. 🙂
Courtesy : Jamaica Observer
Filed under: Public Information |
Warren's Blog 
What rubbish is this? You should re-read the jamaica observer story and note a couple of details:
1. The guy who was sent back but is married to a Trinidad (and shows his Hindu marriage certificate as proof) also quite clearly stated that he was in Trinidad before for TEN months. Now if he hasn’t applied for citizenship or permanent residency on the basis of his marriage and he didn’t have a skills certificate then what is clear is that he overstayed the last time he was in Trinidad. As a result ANY immigration officer in ANY country including Jamaica would have sent him on his way back to his home country. A national of T&T who get married to a Jamaican still has to apply for the right status to stay in Jamaica for more than Six months. This is little different than if you overstay your visa in the US or even if an American overstays their visa free period in Europe – any immigration officer worth his or her salt would pick that up on the entry and exit stamps and bar the person from entering again, at least until they cleared up or changed their status.
2. The little girl who went to see her father….., I would like to know why nobody yet has picked up on the fact that the woman who is minding the child nun seem to care dat di pickney is being taken out of the country on holiday WHILE the school term is still on. In fact for an 11 year old girl I would think that November means she should be getting ready for end of term exams, not boarding some plane. But then again people tek education if joke in JAmrock so mi shouldn’t be surprised.
is AJ an enemy of the state ?
Jamaicans are fedup with AJ’s attitude on this issue.
A lot of our fellow Jamaicans are too simple minded though it seems to understand the concept of following the rules of immigration authorities in countries which do not impose visa restrictions on them. It’s funny, but Jamaicans do not boycott or bad mouth the USA, Canada, The UK, Europe (Schengen Europe), or the Cayman Islands yet all of those places require Jamaicans to get visas. Thousands are turned down for visa applications (quite a few being turned down seemingly arbitrarily and not without insult either – I knew someone turned down and the visa officer all but accused him openly of wanting to run off or smuggle drugs when all he was trying to Dow as to get up to Florida for his brother’s wedding as the best man) and others are turned away at the ports of entry even with visas (a coworker of mine was denied entry in Atlanta and his visa cancelled without ANY explanation whatsoever), yet we don’t hear any rage against this treatment. I suspect it is tied to some concept of race and superiority/inferiority: Jamaicans can accept when White, rich countries treat them like they aren’t something special and apply the rules they have in place, but when black countries like Barbados or Trinidad do it, then it’s a problem. I’m sure for at least some Jamaicans it is because they haven’t got used to the fact that Jamaica is not the pre-eminent English speaking West Indian island anymore of the 1950s and that all of these other islands now have a better reputation while we have worsened our reputation. The fact that we require visas to go to the UK while Barbadians and Trinidadians do not should tell people all they need to know…..
I see you write a lot, but you have not stated your position on the issue and hand and how it relates to treaty signed in terms of free movement of goods and people.
We have no such agreement with Canada UK or US and when turns up at their embassies of high commission, it is with the knowledge that you may or may not get a visa.
Once you have the visa there is a 99.9% chance barring some criminal conviction or some other factor that you will not be allowed into those countries.
A caricom passport on the other hand should allow for FREE unhassled travel between member states and you can only be barred for the two reasons given in the Myrie’s case.
In addition should you be denied it’s your right (again according to the Myrie’s case) to be allowed to speak with the someone at the Jamaican High Commission in that country.
Those were all denied and therein lies the problem.
I would not go as far as to say we are ok being mistreated by the “WHITE” man but would not accept same from our “BLACK” people.
Actually there is a great distrust/dislike for Jamaicans in many Caribbean states, partly of our doing and that is a major part of the problem.
UK and Canada started visa restrictions on Jamaicans are we continued to violate the terms and conditions of our entry into those countries.
That is we ran off and started to create a problem in terms of crime and well as being a burden to the host country.
What’s to state? I mean really. It’s kind of unconscionable to be advocating a boycott of products or for some sap’s resignation over a man who apparently couldn’t distinguish between the 6 months he was granted to visit visa-free and the 10 months he decided to take. Yes it’s a pity he can’t be with his wife, but that’s not the fault of anyone but his own damn self and instead of getting vex with the Trinidadian immigration he needs to learn to take the time and look up the rules and abide by them. Other people do it, so there is NUH REASON why he couldn’t or shouldn’t. He’s no more special than any other person so why should he be expected to be treated differently? If you got married to a Vincentian you really think she could just come here and stay as long as she likes without having her status regularized? Come on, even you must know IT NUH GUH SUH!
What is this crap about not having such an agreement with the USA, Canada or UK? You do realize that we USED to have such an agreement with the UK and Canada right? An informal but very strong agreement (which any of my lawyer bredrins will tell you is still a valid contract) for no visas to be imposed on Commonwealth citizens. What happened? Well a number of Jamaicans decided they couldn’t bodda to play by the rules and wanted so desperately to play the role of drug mule or stay long term in Canada and the UK. What happened? Well naturally the Canadian and British authorities didn’t put up with that bullshit and showed us that if we weren’t going to play by the rules in place then they would put in place NEW rules that we would HAVE to play by whether we liked it or not.
Plus I’ve gone over the relevant sections of the Treaty after the Myrie case. NOWHERE in there (or in the Myrie ruling) does it say that if you violate a country’s immigration laws that you are allowed to enter again hassle-free. Nowhere. So people need to stop coming with that piece of bullshit. The ruling said you are entitled to a 6 month stay. Not that you are entitled to stay as long as you feel like and then come back demanding entry after you blatantly overstay.
Yuh mixing up free movement with hassle-free travel boss. Don’t let the fact that both terms include the word “free” in there fool you. Hassle-free travel means that you aren’t subject to undue scrutiny (like say somebody arriving from Afghanistan might be subject to on the suspicion that he is carry poppies for purposes other than Remembrance Day for November…), NOT that you are not to be asked any questions by immigration officials whatsoever. Free movement is what you get when you have a skills certificate. And almost any Tom, Dick and Harry can get one now since you only need HEART certification to get a CVQ. You do NOT need a University degree.
And go read over the papers again. The Trini Security Minister “has admitted that Trinidad and Tobago needs to make changes to its immigration systems consistent with the recent ruling in the Shanique Myrie case”. Dat soun’ like a place trying to flout di ruling to you? Or dat we have yet anodda case of bureaucracy having to play ketch-up?
I have written extensively on Caricom and before I berate the entity, I usually give the reasons for doing so. Caricom is plagued by a serious policy inertia, although reports have been commissioned their findings have not been implemented. In addition, the treaty is consistently breached by most member states. Caricom is just an idea that is not working due to silly politicians, and the fact that we focus on regional integration and not trade. It should be strictly about economics not sentiments, but then economic integration may not be beneficial because member states produce similar products, so complimentary advantage may never be achieved. Unlike most Jamaicans, I study the failure of Caricom and not the failure of Jamaica to develop a relationship with Caricom and Caricom is a failure if we exclude the negative scenarios between Jamaica and Caricom. The Trinidadians have illegally dismissed travellers from other Caribbean countries, so I do not think it is wise for KSmITH to berate the Jamaicans who may have been wrong this time, when this it done it appears as if Jamaicans are troublemakers and we are over-reacting when in fact there is a problem with Caricom. However, if we want to dismiss the concept of Caricom we must highlight its failure, not Jamaica’s negative relationship with the entity
PUBLISHED IN OBSERVER
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF CARICOM
Regional integration is not a concept that most Jamaicans support due to the insular nature of islands like Trinidad and Barbados, and their lack of respect for Jamaican nationals. Furthermore, it defies logic to support a body that cannot obey its own rules.
For example, although free trade is a one of Caricom’s fundamental pillars, there have been trade wars between countries like Trinidad and Barbados, and more recently between Jamaica and Trinidad. Despite its years of existence, the regional bloc has never been policy oriented, reports like the Rose Hall Declaration on Regional Governance, and the aptly titled Re-Energising Caricom Policy Paper have not been effected. Therefore, it is expected that public sentiments in relation to Caricom will be negative, when the entity is ineffective and Jamaica’s contribution to the region is usually downplayed. Jamaica gives too much to Caricom and receives too little.
The recent utterances by a Bajan Cabinet member shows contempt for the people of Jamaica. Since we live in a global environment, it is expected that any newspaper will report on international matters, and occasionally make editorial commentary about countries which are more prominent than Barbados and there was no backlash. So, when Minister Donville Inniss told Jamaican editors to focus on the rot in Jamaica, because they described what was deemed to be an abuse of the press, not only was he being rude, his ignorance about press freedom was highlighted.
Jamaicans are focusing on the “rot” in our country, and we want Minister Inniss to know that we maintain only necessary interest in the affairs his country and other Caribbean states on a whole. Caricom needs Jamaica, Jamaica does not need Caricom, and the sooner Minister Inniss understands this, the better for all of us.
Further, the decision of Trinidad’s immigration officers to deny Jamaican nationals entry into that State is a breach of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and the people of Jamaica should not support such an action. It is quite impractical for this administration to declare its unwavering support for Caricom, when countries like Trinidad do not abide by the rules. Regional integration must be based on mutual benefit, not the emotive sentiments of politicians.
Lipton Matthews
lo_matthews@yahoo.com