The Peoples Empowerment Party (PEP) would like to respectfully suggest that the government of Barbados should respond to the ‘Immigration Crisis’ by modifying the new Immigration policy enunciated by Prime Minister David Thompson in Parliament, and should instead implement the following measures:
(1) The Five Year Amnesty
Under the new Immigration policy enunciated on 5th May 2009, the current Barbados government is offering an amnesty to undocumented CARICOM migrants, but in order to qualify for this amnesty the migrant must have come to Barbados prior to the 1st of January 1998 - almost 12 years ago. This contrasts with the old ‘five year amnesty’ policy that was in effect under the previous Barbados Labour Party administration.
As most Barbadians are aware, the Owen Arthur Administration, in an effort to assist undocumented CARICOM migrants who had become ‘Barbadianised’, had decreed that all such migrants who had resided in Barbados for at least 5 years, would be given the privelege to come forward and apply for Immigration Status.
Thus, there is a significant number of undocumented migrants who, having resided in Barbados for five (5) years, legitimately expected to benefit from the old ‘five year’ amnesty policy, and had actually put in their applications for status prior to Prime Minister Thompson announcing his new policy on 5th May 2009. These people are now being told that they have lost their ‘rights’ as a result of the new policy.
This is simply not right and the Thompson Administration should therefore publicly announce that it will extend special consideration to all such undocumented CARICOM migrants who had been in Barbados for five or more years prior to the change in policy, and who had therefore qualified for amnesty under the old policy.
As all lawyers are aware, the retrospective or retroactive application of law is frowned upon. Thus, the current Government should respect the position of all those who had legitimately qualified for ‘amnesty’ before the change of policy, and these persons should be assured that they will be dealt with in accordance with the old rules and procedures!
Of course this does not mean that all of these applicants will be successful, but it would quieten a lot of fears and deliver even handed justice to our CARICOM brothers and sisters.
(2) Guest Worker Programme
The current government should also take immediate steps to establish a formal, state run ‘Guest Worker Programme’ specifically for citizens of fellow CARICOM states.
It is clear that the evolving Barbadian economy and society has now reached a stage where the young generation of native Barbadians is not attracted to a number of manual and low level service jobs in agriculture, construction, domestic service and health care, and that we have entered a phase in which our CARICOM neighbours are providing much of this labour.
Our government needs to acknowledge this new reality, and establish an official ‘migrant labour’ or ‘guest worker’ programme that will take the chaos and corruption out of the system of issuing work permits. This new programme should be administered by a unit or department set up within the Ministry of Labour, to which an appropriate number of Immigration officers could be seconded.
The new department will act as a ‘Labour Exchange’ for employers seeking workers, and for would-be migrants seeking temporary employment, and would also be charged with ensuring that acceptable minimum standards in working conditions and wages are maintained.
Once such a ‘Guest Worker Programme’ is established, Government should invite all undocumented CARICOM migrants who are currently in Barbados, but who have been residing here for less than 5 years, to immediately come forward and apply to the ‘Guest Worker Programme’.
These undocumented migrants should also be given the assurance that every effort will be made to accommodate them immediately, and that if that is not possible, they will be required to return home, but with the assurance that their name will be given its rightful and early place on the official waiting list.
If these simple measures are taken, no undocumented CARICOM migrant will feel that he or she needs to go underground; order and regulation will be imposed on the immigration situation; and Barbados will regain its image and reputation as a humane country and an exemplar within the Carribbean integration movement.
DAVID A COMISSIONG
President
