Prominent Caribbean academic and political scientist, Professor Neville Duncan, is calling on Caricom governments to make a definitive statement on the issue of free movement within the region.
His statement follows the decision of the Jamaica government to take claims of by one of its nationals that she was sexually and verbally abused by Barbadian customs and immigration officials to the meeting of the Caricom Council meeting this week.
Security minister Dwight Nelson has written to Public Defender Earl Witter asking him to intervene in the issue after the woman, Shanique Myrie, claimed she had been subjected to sexual and verbal abuse at the hands of the authorities at the Grantley Adams International airport last week.
But Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Harry Husbands, who has responsibility for Immigration, is quoted in the Barbados Nation newspaper as saying that there was no record of Myrie being searched by either immigration or customs officers and that a full statement would be issued after more investigations.
The newspaper quotes Husbands as saying “Shanique Myrie, on arrival in Barbados, claimed she would have been staying with a female resident.
“But a closer investigation; however revealed she was actually staying with a Barbadian man, who actually facilitates the entry of non-nationals into the island,” the newspaper report added.
In an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), Professor Duncan is cautioning countries from taking a position on the matter.
He said the issue speaks to the wider issue of free movement under the Caricom Single Market Economy (CSME) that allows for free movement of goods, skills, services and labour across the region.
He said regional governments now need to have a clear political will to facilitate hassle free travel.
“I think they (regional leaders) just need to determine this is one of the best things they could do for the region because this is how we are going to generate true business.
“We are in a global situation which is about to collapse any moment now because there might be a major shift from the United States dollar as the reference currency and basically we need to be sure within ourselves, within the region that we can move food, that we can move people, move expertise easily from Caribbean country to Caribbean country so that we can maintain a certain level of living and to be protected against needless interference and frustration.”
Duncan said that the region should take a closer look at how the European Union (EU) handles free movement within its market and economic union.
He suggests the introduction of modern technology will make it easier for Caribbean nationals to move across member states.
“Everything known about you will be on the passport, we need to do that for the Caribbean. If some countries are not ready for the electronic system those who can should help them in this regard,” said Duncan, adding “but without a smooth system like that we are always going to be coming up with complaints of one sort or another and by now that should be history.”
Source: Observer
